The greatest gift ever given

With all the hurried preparations for Christmas that is in a couple of days, there is always that last minute gift for a special person on our list. Christmas is a great time for family. It is also a time of great stress for many people because they fear they will give the wrong gift or have uncertainty as to the right gift to give to a friend, family member, or co-worker.

There is also added stress with the office Christmas party and what might or might not happen when the boss appears for what should be a very festive event. With various issues to deal with regarding Christmas today, I want to think with you for a few minutes about that first Christmas.

Has there ever been a greater gift for mankind than the fact that God gave us His best when He allowed His only Son to come to earth to live among us? I try to imagine what it must have been like for the angels when they got word in Heaven that Jesus was leaving Heaven and going to earth. I can only imagine the conversation among the angels as they mused as to why anyone would want to leave Heaven. Heaven, with all the glory of God shining forth all the time, and with the various special assignments of the angels, is a perfect place, yet word was that God’s Son was going to leave Heaven in order to go to earth. What a startling thought!

“What could ever have crossed Jesus mind to leave Heaven?” the angels must have thought. That which is hard for the angels to grasp is certainly no less an issue for us humans because it makes no sense to leave a perfect place like Heaven and come to earth. Over the ages of time since that night in Bethlehem when Jesus was born of a virgin, the world’s people have struggled also with this greatest of all gifts. God with us! The Son of God was willing to leave Heaven, come to earth, suffer at the hands of wicked people, die, come back to life again, show Himself to many people, and then go back to Heaven. Why? How? These issues haunt the simple minds of us humans.

The only answer that works is found in the song we sang as children: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Jesus loved us humans so much He was willing to leave all the glory of Heaven to live among us, and then die for us. Is there anyone who can find a greater gift ever given than the gift of the Son of God to all humans for their redemption?

As we gather with family, friends, and co-workers this year, let us take time to reflect upon this greatest of all gifts; when Jesus left Heaven to come to earth, just for us. My prayer is that each of you will have a Merry Christmas.

Ray Newman
Column first printed in THE PAPER December 8, 2011

Be pugnacious

December, 2006, following my 62nd birthday in September, I was told that the biopsy showed I had cancer. As a pastor I had stood with many people in hospitals when the news was revealed that they or a beloved family member had cancer. I had watched as cancer had taken my Dad at age 62. The decision was easy to make as to the treatments that I would undergo to rid my body of cancer. These last five years have been challenging, to say the least. The great news that through all of the treatments and rehab that was necessary, today I am cancer free. One of my doctors had said that we would know within five years if the treatments were successful. I am sharing this personal journey with you today because Thursday night of last week, one of the most infamous, pugnacious, and proud atheist in modern times, Christopher Hitchens, died at age 62 of cancer. Many have written about and reacted to the death of the world renowned intellectual since the announcement of his death.

As an ethicist, and one who writes in the field of apologetics, I have read much of what Hitchens has written in the last several years. He was never one to let his feelings be kept quiet. Many who knew him best say that Hitchens liked nothing more than to pick a good fight arguing his position of social justices (or injustices) as opposed to what he saw as a feeble attempt to intimidate people into believing in some “being” out there somewhere called God. I confess I never read articles by Hitchens that did not challenge me as to my beliefs and also that I did not come away with anger building inside of me. This coming from one who was so gifted with words and with superior intellect, yet so blinded to the reality that there is a God. It has been said of Hitchens that those of us who read his works felt we knew him because he kept nothing of himself or what he thought hidden. I never met him personally, but felt after reading his articles, and seeing him in various interviews that he was one of the most open people I had ever encountered. Hitchens and my Dad were the same age when they died, 62. Both of them impacted my life. That statement might sound strange to some people. Daddy was a believer in God, and Hitchens never would consider any possible approach that would have proven to him there is a God.

There would be some people who would pick up the argument that the faith my Daddy had, that there is a God, was simple faith. Upon further study of the reality of faith and trust in The God that is where we all must come back to, a simple faith. It is not intellectual prowess that brings us to the realization of there being a God, but it is simple faith. As we approach Christmas Day at the beginning of next week, even though some have tried hard to turn the observance to a secular theme, the reality is that Christmas is the celebration of God becoming man in the person of Jesus who was born to a virgin woman and placed in a lowly stable feeding trough. Amidst all the family traditions, church musicals, toys, and gifts that will be exchanged none of that would be possible had there not been the gift from God to man of His Son on that first Christmas.

Once a year at this time I take a break from writing about politics, cultural and world events to remind my readers of the significance of what is taking place during this season known as Christmas. The entire Christian world joins together in celebrating the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. It would be wonderful to be able to keep that Christian and Christmas spirit throughout the year.

Among the politically correct there is horror to think a person would be so open about their faith in God. We are seeing the reaction of the sports world to the testimony of Tim Tebow as an example of how difficult it is for people to accept the reality of there being a God. Those of us who believe in God need to be as pugnacious as the Christopher Hitchens of the world in expressing our belief in God daily.

Ray Newman Copyright December 2011
First published in The Barrow County News, Winder, GA., Wednesday December 21, 2011

Religious liberty is being attacked

The evidence continues to add up that religious liberty is under attack in our country. As an advocate for religious liberty and freedom, it is becoming evermore clear that certain elements within our culture will do anything to wipe the fingerprints of religion from our nation. Full disclosure allows me to admit that I am a Southern Baptist; so therefore, I am not a Protestant, which means that I have a strong aggressive view regarding freedom of religion in our country. This column is not long enough to submit all the mounting evidence regarding the assault that religious liberty and freedom is under today, but I will share just a few known attacks currently being leveled against religious liberty.

July 29, 2011, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled with a two to one vote that in the states of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, no one can pray in a public, federal forum in “Jesus name.” The case is now before the United States Supreme Court. The Governor of Rhode Island, refuses to call the Christmas tree in the state capitol what it is (he calls it a holiday tree), which is another example of overreach into assault on religious liberty. The Obama administration’s Health and Human Service Agency (HHS) made a decision to cut off funding for the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops program for sex trafficking victims because the Catholic group holds to pro-life beliefs, yet they scored the second highest using the HHS’s own process of evaluation. The Los Angeles Times in a story by Jenny Deam, November 26, 2011, reported that the Air Force Academy had spent $80,000.00 on an outdoor worship center to be used by pagans, Wiccans, druids, witches and followers of Native American faiths. The story quotes Cadet 1st Class Nicole Johnson, a 21 year old senior from Florida who became a pagan after entering the academy; “It is very nice to have our own space,” she said. Todd Starnes of Fox Radio reported August 3, 2011, that a course that had used the Bible as part of the material for a class that was taught for more than 20 years was stopped because of the complaint of one person. The class dealt with the biblical view of the morality of war. Breaking news hit last Friday when several news sources (including me) obtained copies of a Department of the Navy memo that was issued September 14, 2011, regarding visitors to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. The memo dealt with the subject of: “Wounded, Ill, and Injured partners in care guidelines.” The memo details the purpose as “To provide guidelines with respect to the presence and participation of families and other partners in care.” Page four, paragraph 8, subsection f, of the memo reads: “No religious items (i. e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” When word spread about this egregious assault on religious freedom, the Department of the Navy signaled they would rescind the orders in the memo. We can be thankful that word spread so rapidly on this issue, but the real issue, for me, is that we have people in the highest levels of our government who think it is the right thing to do when they issue such memos. They see nothing wrong with making decisions to cut off funding from projects that help victims of sex trafficking because the people leading in the helping agencies, such as the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops do not agree with the administration on the issue of abortion. To continue looking at how religious liberty is under attack today, school districts across the country (including Barrow County) feeling the threat of secularist’s demands, no longer call the days when schools are closed before and after Christmas “Christmas holidays,” but feeling the heat they changed the name of those days when schools are closed to “Winter Break.” Some people believe it is easier to give in to those who are on the attack than it is to stand up and continue to hold to the traditions that are found in the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation.

On this date in 1941, we were attacked as a nation from an enemy outside our country. The attacks are coming from inside our nation now; however I still wish a Merry Christmas for all people as long as I can.

Ray Newman: Copyright 2011
This column first appeared in the Barrow County News, Winder, Ga.
December 7, 2011

Have we become a nation of vultures?

Someone has called this generation the “Me first generation.” The reported events from last Friday’s shopping frenzy across the country proved once and for all that some people care nothing about others, but have the focus and attention fully on what they want to do when they want to do it. The early morning shopping event that has come to be known as “Black Friday” was not without incidents as people began lining up long before stores were to open with promises of special bargains to the first people to make it through the doors on to the sales floor. Reports came in all day about people who jumped ahead in line, fights breaking out because of people crowding so close together that some were under threat of being trampled once the doors were finally opened for business. There were reports of shootings, pepper spray being used on other shoppers by an eager shopper who wanted a certain item, and even a report of a person dying in the push of the crowd only to be ignored by people as they pushed their way forward and into the store to be among the first to get the bargains of the minute.

All these events leave us with a major question. “What has happened to us in America?” We have turned into a bunch of vultures caring little for others and wanting to be first in line to grab up promised bargains at cut rate prices. We seem to be at a point to where we will cut throats of others to save a few pennies. One might argue that the economy being down has caused some people to do almost anything to save or to take advantage of a bargain. It is not the bargain I am so much concerned with as the way we are now treating each other as we race toward getting something at a cut rate price. It could also be argued that out of all the stores and all the crowds of people, the percentage of those who pushed, shoved, or shot their way to the front of the line was a very small number. This could be true, but again I ask, “What has happened to us?” Why have we come to the place that other people’s feelings and well being are thrown aside when we have our eye on something we want? Early in my adult life (many years ago), there was a saying about the business world being a “dog eat dog world.” Someone once told me, “You have to look out for number one because no one else will.” That seems to be the prevailing attitude today. There is an overshadowing concept that pushing, shoving, and breaking in line is ok as long as the purpose is to satisfy a desire, want, or wish a person might have at the present moment. We seem to have a generation of people who live just for the moment and they want what they want when they want it no matter who or what they have to step on to achieve their personal desire, want, or wish.

It could be said again, that we are dealing with only a small percentage of people. The larger majority of us want to get along, work together, and even help our neighbors achieve and succeed in life. There has always been a criminal element in society and those who want to take from others what they have and make it their on. Stealing and robbery are considered to be crimes against persons. There was a time in the old west when stealing a person’s horse was a crime punishable by hanging. We certainly do not need to return to the days when people become vigilantes with roving bands of citizens moving about in the dark to punish supposed criminals in the community. Likewise, we do not need roving bands of people gathering to push their way forward without consideration for other people’s personal property. Today, it seems any time there is a crowd of people gathering there is the possibility that the crowd could become a mob. They loose control and become almost as if they only have one mind; people are hurt in the process of being in the way of what the mob wants to obtain.

In the season when we sing about peace on earth, good will toward all people we need to show we really mean what we sing.

Ray Newman
Copyright: December 1, 2011
Column first appeared in Barrow County News, Winder, GA.

Super-Committee Snatches Defeat From What Should Have Been Victory

A bipartisan deficit-cutting super-committee invested with powerful tools to accomplish its goals is ready to concede defeat according to a report by Reuters.

For the past three months, Democratic and Republican members of the committee have been working to reach an agreement on how to tame the United States’ massive financial problems. The problem faced by the committee was no small one -- cutting the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years -- yet hopes were high that lawmakers could strike an accord that would put the country back on more stable economic footing. The committee had the power to quickly push legislation through Congress, yet failed to capitalize on that opportunity.

With the failure of the super committee, taxpayers are left with several major concerns. First, with the 2012 election cycle heading into full swing, the country will likely have to wait until 2013 or even 2014 to address the problem further. Secondly, the partisan bickering that kept committee members from reaching an agreement is unlikely to be any less acrimonious after the 2012 elections. Also, with the United States’ credit worthiness already in question by some ratings agencies, will this be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back and sends the country into further economic decline? Unfortunately, those are just some of the concerns.

But ask yourself this -- did you really expect the super-committee to succeed in the first place? Like the alcoholic or drug addict that must reach rock bottom before getting help, our Congress appears unable to shake its addiction to bloated government and partisanship while there is still further to fall. With this failure, our elected leaders have taken us one step closer to the bottom.

Pacifists are hard to pacify

Pacifism is defined as: “opposition to war or violence as a resort in the settlement of disputes,” according to the dictionary. On the other hand, the word pacify is defined: “to bring or restore to a state of peace or tranquility; quiet; calm.” While seeking to reconcile the two different definitions, it seems that one is opposed to war or violence and the other requires qualities that can restore peace and tranquility to a situation or person. Observing the recent upheaval taking place in the countries of the Middle East with the riots that have broken out and the bloodshed that has been occurring as a result of the riots, there seems to be little evidence that pacifism is at work in these locations. Our nation allows for peaceful demonstrations and gatherings of citizens to express their opinions on various issues. Recently, the media has been following the development of the group known as Occupy Wall Street. It has been somewhat difficult to determine exactly what those who have joined together are really wanting. There seems to be an element of non violent protest about culture and cultural issues. There seems to be no real clearly defined answers as to why these groups have sprung up. Some of the people in these groups are there with clearly defined motives and with agendas about change they want to see brought about in our culture. Other members of these groups seem to have just joined in because it looked like a party they would like to be in on, and with not so clear ideas as to why they are there or what it will take to pacify their desire. It is the uncertainty that has caught my attention.

Being an advocate with passionate opinions, I have been with various groups with which I agree and with others that have opposing viewpoints, yet just as passionate in their belief system. Opposing points of view have never bothered me. That might come as a surprise to many who read this column, but I have been around controversial ideas long enough to know that we do not always agree on every point in culture. Freedom of speech and press is enjoyed in our country. For that truth I am thankful. The one area that does bring great concern for me is when one side tries to one-up the other by using tactics that are designed to silence the other side. There should be no fear when we express our opinions knowing the only response will be to belittle or make fun of those with differing viewpoints. Rather than engaging in mature conversation when some people hold to a different opinion, the tendency is to lapse into the wrestle mania mode and try to scratch the eyes out of the person with another viewpoint. It is most likely too much to ask, but it seems we should be able to approach differing viewpoints with an allowance for each side to express their opinions without fear that they are going to be held up to a fancy public humiliation tactic by one side or the other.

With the onslaught of the blogosphere which allows for name calling, and opinions expressed by fake named contributors, there is now the belief that anything goes when trying to make the side with which one disagrees to look as foolish as possible. The unfortunate aspect of this new media is that it retrofits to a day in journalism known as “Yellow Journalism.” A time when anyone could say anything they wanted about a public or private citizen and have it printed in the newspaper with no proof of the charges. The attitude behind “Yellow Journalism” reveals the wrong motives of those who use it.

Opinions and preferences are now stated as cold hard facts, rather than opinions and preferences. From what I have seen, many within the groups that are currently occupying public places are doing so with little or no real understanding of the freedoms they enjoy and the advantages they have being citizens of this great nation. We need only look at the other nations of the world to see how quickly these peaceful demonstrations have turned violent with physical harm as the outcome which has brought no solution to their issues. This has yet to happen in our country, thankfully. It seems no matter how much tolerance is exercised toward these pacifists groups, they refuse to be pacified.

Ray Newman

Treat life with respect and dignity

There are two issues I feel passionate about that touch our culture every day. The first one is the right-to-life that all of us have. I am an activist and an advocate for life issues. Life begins at conception and is to continue until the giver of life determines the natural end. In 1987, a small pro-life ministry based 45 miles north of Sacramento, California, held the first Life Chain observance as they built America’s first chain through the towns of Yuba City and Marysville, California, according to their website. Last Sunday, across the country there were people who stood for one hour in silent prayer standing up for the unborn in communities throughout North America. Life is valuable and vital, and should be treated with dignity and respect.

Being an advocate for life also causes me to share another passion of my belief system. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Over these many years in my profession, having sat on my side of the desk and listened to stories of spouse and child abuse, my heart has softened for those who are abused and has hardened my heart toward the abusers. One of the things I have learned as an advocate for raising awareness of domestic violence is that there is not one level of society left out when it comes to violence being used against other human beings. Often, the most kept secret about violence is that it covers every level of educational, economic, political, social and even spiritual layers of our culture. There is no place where domestic violence can ever be accepted by me.

Often those who are the victims of violence are so intimidated they suffer alone. Too many times the person who preys upon others does so as a master-bully. We have been seeing stories recently in the media about bullies at schools or neighborhoods, but we also know that the person, who preys upon another, wherever the act occurs, is a coward and a bully. Domestic violence can be inflicted in several ways. There is not always the striking of another person, but the intimidation that occurs as a means of control when a person expresses episodes of rage against someone else. The person, who is the prey of another, soon learns the best way to give in and give up is to keep the predator from going into a fit of rage. That is abusive behavior. There is more than just the need for anger management when a person is controlling another by the use of anger or rage. Over these many years of observing the behavior of the controlling person, it almost always escalates to hitting. The early moments of abuse could be the use of words expressed in anger, but soon, it changes to hitting or even restraining another person until the abuser can force their way on the person being abused. In recent months the media has been filled with stories of murder and mayhem that has been rooted in domestic violence victims. There seems to be more stories, recently, of couples who once stood before a preacher or judge and each pledged their love for the other, but grew apart to the point of violence erupting into the taking of a life.


The majority of the time when the domestic violence spills over into murder or assault, the coward, that is the predator, has to build up strength to commit such a heinous crime with the use of alcohol or some other drug. A person out of control of a situation is persuaded they are superhuman once they have ingested some drug. These domestic cowards must think that once they have inflicted enough pain on the one being abused that they will prove a point. The point they prove is they are cowards and bullies and deserve swift punishment for the abuse and harm they have inflicted on someone else. We know that many times the coward inflicting the harm to someone else is much stronger and bigger than the person they are abusing. The shame of our culture is that we have to force the abused person to jump through too many legal hoops to receive help and many times it is too late when they have been killed by the abusing bully. There can be help available by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.787.3224. Life is vital and valuable, and must be treated with respect and dignity.

Ray Newman: Copyright October, 2011

Modern know-it-alls fear conservative Christians

The dictionary defines terrorism as, “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.” Often we see the use of terrorism or terroristic threats used against a group of people by other groups of people. We have become familiar with wars taking place around the world where people are persecuted and brutalized. We know of forced famines, where people are starved to death because they are of a different culture, race, or ethnic group. The headlines have told of the plots of organizations like, al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, drug cartels and organized criminal elements. We know of gang warfare, and the news is filled with the rampage of the mobs in England. We tremble to think what the world would be like with no rule of law or defense allowed against terrorism as it is permitted to unleash an attack upon innocent people. We mourn with those who are victims of domestic violence. We have laws to protect the innocent and those who are unable to take care of themselves. We have law enforcement agencies to assist when homes are invaded or assaults are carried out against people or property. As we move closer to the tenth anniversary of the heinous attack upon our nation when the planes flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, many are calling to memory where they were on that early fall morning. We recoil to think what it must be like to be kept in a cage and forced into sexual servitude at the hands of a sex trafficker. We see the ways people have devised to take advantage of the poor and the acts of injustice that are carried out against the poor and disadvantaged in our nation and throughout the world. We know stories of people who have been forced into drug addiction to be used as property rather than being recognized with dignity as a fellow human being. We try to fathom the mindset that seeks to harm others just for ones personal perverted pleasure. We see the innocent faces of children who have been killed by their parents. We read stories of family members who turn with uncontrolled violence upon other family members. In all of the unthinkable acts of rage and violence that are replayed in the media, we can’t help but wonder if we have become hardened to the reality of what it is like to be terrorized by someone or something else. Have we become such a calloused culture that we no longer are disturbed by the injustice and violence that interrupts our lives? Someone has suggested that we have developed a culture of raunchiness where we are no longer shocked by whatever might cross our path.

With the raucous lifestyles of some groups and the lack of concern for each other in our culture, it is easy to turn upon those who seek to stand upon principle. The elite-academic-class yuk it up when they hear someone stand upon principle for freedom, family, and faith values. The high minded group of editorial writers in the liberal media enjoys tagging groups of people who stand upon conservative values and principles of life. There was a time when the word “cancer” was a feared and hated word. In today’s calloused world, “conservative” and “Christian” are the two words that invoke the most negative response from people who believe they have advanced beyond those two outdated concepts. The New York Times immediately jumped to label the mass murderer in Norway as a “Christian Extremist,” when there is not one shred of evidence to link him to any church or group that could be labeled Christian.

These modern know-it-alls have developed a calloused attitude against any person or group who expresses different values than those on the left. It has become an easy thing for the liberal left to hurl charges of terrorist against even the gentlest patriots among us. Many have spoken as if they are horrified that a person who is serving in elective office would ever admit to praying to God for guidance and wisdom while making decisions. From where I stand to imply with a condescending attitude that because someone speaks up for freedom, faith, and family that they are a terrorist or worse that they might be a conservative Christian is an affront to all the patriots who have died to make this country free.

Ray Newman

There is a way out of this quagmire

The headline came across the news sources late last Friday night that an American helicopter had been shot down in Afghanistan. It would be Saturday morning when I would learn that the most deadly event in the ten year war in Afghanistan had claimed the lives of thirty-one United States troops. The majority of those who died were Navy SEALS. The Taliban claimed credit for the deadly rocket attack upon our troops. It was further reported that many of the special operations SEALS were those who had carried out the strike against Osama bin Laden. While we are hearing about scaling back the troop numbers and cutting defense spending in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to satisfy those who are insisting that we end the war by withdrawing without being victorious, the price we are going to pay is the loss of lives of our youngest, brightest and best in the military.

The news of the tragic deaths of the troops in this event added to our hopelessness following the fact that for the first time in our nation’s history our nation’s credit rating had been downgraded from AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poor’s. In a statement regarding the downgrading of our country’s credit standing, a spokesperson for S&P said that the long ballyhooed agreement reached between the three branches of our government in Washington could be described by saying that the “…plan falls short of what would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.” The reaction of the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Franz Geithner, was to say that the economist at Standard and Poor’s had made a math mistake. The Obama administration likes to remind us of all the terrible things they inherited from the Bush administration. One thing he was given by the Bush administration was a credit rating of AAA. Now, for the first time in our nation’s history, our credit rating has been downgraded and the only explanation the Treasury Secretary can come up with is bad math!

The only person left from the original group of financial advisors in the Obama Administration is Geithner. He has often been quoted in the media as having the answers to our financial crisis, none of which have worked. He made a promise several months ago that the credit standing of our country would not be downgraded. Yet, now it has been. We were promised employment would be on the upswing, yet unemployment is higher. We have been told that this administration is working on jobs and putting Americans back to work. That has not happened. The point is being made that the White House cannot create jobs. That is true. They can, however, get out of the way by letting up on regulations that will instill confidence once again, allowing for more people to be offered the opportunity to go back to work. Two words can be used to define what we have seen from the current administration from the first day they took office until now: overreaching and over regulation. We have watched daily as our nation has been pushed into a direction that we do not want to go by those who promised they would change the direction of our country.

It is not hard to know the next claim that will be presented to the American people to fix the economy. Higher taxes will be presented as the answer, and those who have stood against raising taxes will be called out as the ones that should shoulder the blame for the downgrading of our credit standing. That charge could not be more wrong.

The very obvious ideological concept of bigger government and nanny-state government as opposed to less government and personal responsibility is being seen at the highest level of our land. The overreaching and over regulation by this administration has thrust this nation into a deep hole out of which will take years and several generations to fill. The last thing we need to add to this sick economy is higher taxes with more government entitlements. We continue to punish the producers in our country. That is a failed system that has never worked and will not work now.

Now is the time to allow our military to fight the war they are trained to fight and win, and get government regulations off the backs of businesses and citizens. The end result would be to propel us out of this quagmire into renewed vigorous growth.

Ray Newman

The spending crisis is out of control

People my age will remember the television program that captured the attention of our nation years ago. The program was called the $64,000.00 question. The format consisted of a host asking questions of contestants and as questions were answered correctly there would be a higher level to attain and more money to be won. The show was exposed as a fraud and taken off the air. The American public seems to have always been enthralled with the winning of money and watching others hit the jackpot. The game shows in the height of network television gave prizes, products, or money to the contestants. With the expansion of cable and satellite programs available for viewing by the nation we have seen the introduction of “Reality Shows.” These programs, we are led to believe; show the real life, as-they-happen events in the lives of certain people or groups of people. The list is growing ever larger all the time with more people trying to get in on the money-making genre that feeds on the people’s voyeuristic habits. A few of the programs build on the aggressive spirit of people; Storage Wars and Parking Wars being two such programs where the viewers are treated to the aggressive struggles and rage of people as they bid for the contents of a storage unit or the special parking space in a large metropolitan area. We are allowed to look into the private lives of housewives, swamp people, and rock stars, with some of the shows that are currently claiming the attention of vast numbers of people every week. Some people have been overwhelmed by the brawling of the hit program of last season called Mob Wives. With all of the brawls, shouting, and pushing, we are allowed to see into the dysfunctional personalities of each of the characters in these shows. It remains to be seen where all of this interest in fake reality is going to finally take us.

There is a real life show playing out on the American stage, currently, that some in the media have called “Debt Wars.” The increase in the debt ceiling of our country has taken all of the oxygen from the news that should be surrounding the announced candidates for the upcoming presidential primaries. The American people have been used as pawns in this fight taking place in Washington that ultimately touches all of us in the pocket book. More than a debt war, we are seeing the ideological exchange of those who believe in bigger government with increased spending to bring us to a nanny state utopia that will control all aspects of the lives of the citizens as opposed to smaller government that allows for personal achievement and upward mobility. The personal ideological views of the players in this war have been clearly seen in the last several weeks. The credit rating of our nation is in the balance. The concept of smaller or bigger government is a choice being laid before our nation’s leaders. The reality that is coming into full view is that we have those in leadership who have staked out their position and refuse to see any other way to approach the subject of government spending. With all of the finger pointing and blame casting that has been in the media, the reality is that we are at a time when decisions must be made as to the future of our country. Those who argue for increased government spending and the enlargement of government would say that we have no other choice but to continue on the road on which we have been travelling. While that is being put forward as a position, there are those who believe the time has come to put a stop to the spending spree that has brought us to the brink of financial chaos. When we are currently borrowing forty cents of every dollar we spend, we must know there is a time when the money being borrowed will have to be repaid. Other people tell us that this path was determined many years ago and there is nothing we can do to stop this spending train from continuing down the track to financial ruin. The American Stock Exchange has reacted since the increase in the debt ceiling by tanking. The reality is that our country does not have a debt crisis, but a spending crisis that must be brought under control.

Ray Newman

The slavery of addiction

It is with sadness I write this column expressing my opinion about events that continue in the culture of today. It was on Twitter that I learned of the sudden death of a 27 year old entertainer. Word was cautious at first about the death of Amy Jade Winehouse, but soon, celebrities and many other people began to express their opinions about the life and struggles of the young singer. Later in the day, Judy Farah, known on Twitter as “newsbabe1530” left the following tweet, “The 27 Club, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, now Amy Winehouse, all dead at 27.” As the tweets continued, I thought of the young age of those listed; Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin, Jones, Cobain and Winehouse never lived to see their 28th birthday. The use of the names of the entertainers listed above is not to suggest that it is only in the music or entertainment field where people die young as a result of drug abuse. A similar list could be made in almost every vocation and career field. As the music and entertainment industry struggles to find answers to the inner issues that each of those listed have dealt with, I was reminded of a quote from Voltaire, when he said, “What a heavy burden is a name that has become famous too soon.” The question arises then; can we blame the struggles these entertainers had on their fame? Benjamin Franklin said, “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” Other questions can then be asked concerning these untimely deaths. “Are these struggles of addiction a mark of immaturity and only made by the young?” Another question is relevant to our discussion, “Why doesn’t someone wiser or older step in to stop this self-destructive behavior?” For every question asked in recent days there are many answers. There are those who would defend with great passion the position that tells us the addiction to self-destructive behavior is not the fault of the person addicted. Other people could step forward to lay the blame upon society and the stresses under which we are required to live today.

Help is available for any who find they are struggling with addictions. With the development of the Internet, we are discovering an addiction to pornography that is ruining lives in every career field. Society has known for many years the addictions of drugs and alcohol. There are self-help programs, recovery programs, private counselors with a Christian perspective, public health programs, government drug substitution programs, and others who have made a lifetime vocation of seeking to help any and all who is addicted to some substance or way-of-life that will lead to self-destructive behavior.

Families and friends of those who are caught in the trap of addiction and have become slaves to their personal inner struggles, spend many hours and money trying to find ways to assist the people they love in order to change their behavioral pattern of self-destruction. There is nothing as helpless as a person trying to assist a loved one dealing with the types of issues as young Amy had. Reports tell that Amy Winehouse had tried several different rehab treatments, none of which brought about the desired result of freedom from her addictive drug use. She once told a reporter: “I’m of the school of thought where if you can’t sort something out for yourself, no one can help you. Rehab is great for some people but not for others.”

Before we throw a righteous pointed finger into the face of the young and immature, let us all realize that we could also be caught in this same trap of self-destructive behavior. Before we lecture those who are addicted, let us seek the source of the behavior and do all we can to encourage a recovery program that will change the way-of-life of the addict. Communicating love and support as early in life as possible to the ones we love can go a long way toward having success as the temptations of drug, alcohol, and other destructive behaviors are dangled before the eyes of the young. Some people reading this column will push back telling of years of love and support that fell on deft ears as the behavior of the addict grew more severe with each new event.

Too many die too young as a result of addictive self-destructive behavior.

Ray Newman

Get to know candidates for President of US

In the middle of a hot dry summer in Georgia, there is little doubt that the nominee for the Democrat party for President of the United States of America will be the current president. Many pundits have already pronounced President Obama as the anointed winner in his second run to be the nominee of his party. Opinions will vary as to whether his nomination will mean an automatic second term in the White House.

On the Republican side of the aisle, the field of candidates for the nomination continues to grow. It is hard to predict how many people will ultimately be running to carry the banner for the Republican Party from the primaries into the General Election. National columnists and bloggers are abuzz with rumors of who is in and who is out in regard to being the final winner for the nomination to seek the highest office in the world. The question I am hearing most often these days is the prediction of who among the current field of candidates will be the first to drop out. There seems to be a tie in trying to determine if the first drop out would be Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. Neither of these men has yet to gain the momentum that was been expected by their supporters. Almost every conservative column writer is showing Mitt Romney as the front runner in money support as well as poll results. There is a hedge on this prediction, however, by some writers when the as-yet unannounced candidacy of the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is added to the field of candidates. Fellow Georgian, Herman Cain, has a way of bringing great energy to a crowd and has enjoyed fair success in his fund raising attempts. Former Utah Governor, Ambassador Jon Huntsman, has been able to stir some waves after jumping into the fray. Minnesota Representative, Michele Bachmann, has been able to rise near the top in some of the daily tracking polls. There is some speculation as to whether Sarah Palin, former vice presidential candidate with Senator John McCain, will enter the race. There is Ron Paul who appeals to a certain segment of the population, but has yet to turn that appeal into a prediction of victory for him. Tim Pawlenty shows promise but is struggling to have his message heard. Thaddeus McCotter is also often mentioned as having entered last, and might be the first to drop out. Naming each of these candidates should not be seen as an endorsement or prediction concerning any of them. I have listed them for information only. We continue to hear that others will be joining the race.

With all that is going on in Washington over the increase in the debt ceiling, and other national and international upheavals, some would say it is too early to begin following presidential candidates. I would argue however, that the time is now that we need to become aware of the positions of each candidate in order to make an informed decision when the time comes for voting.

Admittedly, it is early, but it is never too early to begin comparing the values, experience (in and out of government service), platforms and promises of each of the people who would want our vote to become the next President of the United States. With the availability of information via the Internet and with social media on the upswing all the candidates attempt to make known their beliefs and policy convictions in order for everyone who agrees with them to jump on their wagon as they move toward the primary vote next year.

There is no excuse for any person to say they are not informed about candidates. There should be no viable excuse to stay home on Election Day, especially to say that you don’t know the people running for President of the United States of America.

Ray Newman

Just Common Sense

Each year I take time during the days leading up to the Fourth of July to read the Constitution of the United States of America and the Declaration of Independence. This year, I added to the reading marathon the pamphlet penned by Thomas Paine, January 9, 1776, titled “Common Sense.” In this long essay, Paine takes great strides to explain the common sense thinking of the day that led up to the Declaration of Independence from the monarchial system of government in England, under which the colonies were forced to struggle. One is not long into the reading of Paine’s masterpiece of government grievances before it is known that there is no love lost between Paine and King George III, the King of England.

Paine explains in the document. “We have it in our power to begin the world anew…America shall make a stand, not for herself alone, but for the world.” It was obviously true that the men who led the rebellion against the tyranny of the monarchy in the “Mother country” were motivated by the desire to be free from government intrusion into their personal lives because of the belief that they had God-given rights they would not yield. Paine was not shy to express his beliefs and to outline what he understood was necessary to throw off the yoke of bondage that was being tightened around the necks of the people in the colonies. One only has to read the quoted sentences below to hear the pathos and passion in the voice and pleading of Paine as he argued for a free society of people that would determine its own destiny.

Paine said: “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil, in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamities is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer! Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.”

With the publishing of “Common Sense,” Thomas Paine spoke to the people of the colonies and at the same time served notice on King George III that the free people of the new world intended to remain free and were willing to, if necessary, seal that freedom with their life blood. In the months that followed the publishing of Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet, there would be many meetings among the leaders of the new developing country, with edicts from King George III to attempt to bring the rebels into line and further control this attempt to break away from England, to no avail.

Monday, we celebrate our independence from England with our 235th celebration of the Declaration of Independence. As we place our government system alongside other systems we are still young, and we are still in the throes of determining all that the founding fathers had in mind for our nation. When the founding fathers expressed their collective belief that among certain of our rights is the right to life, they gave credibility to the universal right to life. In the listing of what they believed to be Creator-given rights; life was first, then liberty, followed by the pursuit of happiness. Our society has in the last couple of decades determined to turn that list upside down putting happiness first. Not only have we seen that determined shift in thinking, but somehow the idea has been sold that government must insure the happiness of the people. We have lost the concept of the pursuit of happiness and replaced it with government guaranteed happiness, which is not possible unless we are willing to loose all our freedoms. We too often see the argument for the taking of life in the womb as assuring the happiness of the one making the decision to take the life of the innocent unborn person. Not just in the area of life, but also in every aspect of our life from the cradle to the grave, we have been sold the idea that government has all the answers to every dilemma of life. The time is now that we should embrace the truth expressed by Thomas Paine when he said. “Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one…”

Ray Newman

How We Make Wrong Choices

In these early days of spring there is a continuing unrest spreading across the nation. My email box is being filled each day with information coming out of Washington and elsewhere about the condition of our country. Last week, there seemed to be as many people looking for a government shut down as there were people on the other side wringing their hands, wanting the government to stay open. Every person and organization that sends information has an opinion about what needs to be done to fix the latest crisis we are facing. There is almost a wrestle mania attitude running through some people’s thoughts as they try to make sense out of what makes no sense to many people. There are those who insist that their opinion is the only one that will work and for any who do not line up in agreement with them they are being assigned a place in the nether world.

 A friend offered this solution: “Open the top of the Capitol and pour them all out and start over.” While I understand that feeling, it sounds as if that would lead to anarchy with no leader or rule and would, indeed, create more problems than could ever be solved. The argument is being made by many people from whom I hear that the current crop of elected leaders is failing in their attempts to bring solutions and we would be better off starting over. While I understand the temptation the solution seems to have, the question arises as to who would then replace those who are in office now. Are we sure that the next crop of leaders will do any better than the ones we currently have? Many would respond by saying they could not be any worse. That is an unknown. We always take a risk anytime we come to the place of holding an election. There is always the passion and emotion of what the hot button might be in the country and the voters run mostly on passion and emotion in selecting candidates and nominees.

The solution I offer takes time and effort on the part of the voters. It is not too early to begin to think about candidates for the next election cycle. We know that President Obama has already kicked off his campaign (some say he never stopped campaigning) for his 2012 Presidential run. On the Republican side, dozens of candidates seem to be lining up to take a run at the nomination. There will be, as always, a long list of independent candidates for the office of President of the United States of America. As I speak before various groups across our state, the questions have already started as to who I think the nominee will be for the Republican Party. Upon being invited recently to speak to a group of concerned and active citizens in South Georgia, the person issuing the invitation said, “We want you to be prepared to tell us who you think is the front runner for the Presidential Election of 2012.” It is now time that we as citizens need to be informing ourselves on the issues and where the candidates stand on those issues. I know that unemployment is high and many are seeking jobs with little time to be thinking about the next election. I know the international situations continue to mound larger and take time to consider, which again leaves little time to be thinking about the next election. With a long list of excuses, we could all act as if we have no time to become informed on the issues and positions of possible candidates. I would suggest that we are in this situation today because we have waited too late and known too little about the candidates we have elected to office. As a political activist and pundit, I find that it is a full time job to keep up with what is taking place at all levels of government. I also find information is more easily available than ever. I contend that there is no excuse for not knowing the candidates and their positions on all the issues. As citizens, we must become informed and then be willing to tell others what we know about the candidates and their positions. We cannot afford to continue to make wrong choices.

Ray Newman:  All Rights Reserved

America Is Not A Pure Democracy

Other countries are facing civil war. There are riots, mobs, overthrowing of governments, and regime changes taking place in almost all of the nations of the Middle East. Recently, mobs have been gathering in the United Kingdom, and in some of the states in our country calling for change or lack thereof to certain laws. Our nation, upon being founded, made a decision to become a representative democratic republic. The establishment of law and following the rule of law is to be paramount in a representative democratic republic. There are some people (even politicians), who have the mistaken idea that we are a pure democracy in America. That is not true. A pure democracy is a government of the masses. In a pure democracy, every decision that is to be made in government is made by a vote or some other expression by the masses. Being a representative form of government, the people (thus the phrase, “We the people), elect at determined election times the people who will represent their wishes and values and authorize them to make laws and set regulations that will govern.

 As there is a time when those who are elected to represent the people no longer represent the wishes of the people, at the next scheduled election other people are then elected that will promise to represent the wishes of the people. It sounds complex and it is. It might have a desire to be simple, but when the people elected misunderstand their role and begin to set and pass laws that do not represent the wishes of the people, there is a push back on the elected representatives. There were some of our nation’s founders who wanted to see a pure federalist form of government. That form of government would not have allowed for state or local governments. The entire law making assignment would have been granted to the federal government.

We have seen a twist on this concept of representative republic over time when the elected representatives have not wanted to follow through with their assignment and have tossed the ball, as it were, back to the people for a vote on an issue and called that a true democracy. We have seen this done many times in recent decades in California when the people there are called upon to vote on almost everything that is to be made into law. That seems to be a great way for the elected representatives to place the blame on the people in case a bad law is approved by the people. We are seeing this lived out in our state with the concept of having local votes on the Sunday sales of alcohol in package stores. Many of the same elected officials who expect to be applauded for that attitude recoil at the idea that any should ask them to break their constitutional assignment in passing laws that raise taxes on the people not allowing the people to vote on the issue.

An uninformed public continues to chant that the people must decide. The people have every opportunity to decide at the ballot box when they elect the people who will represent them until the next election. There is not enough money or time to hold all the elections that would be necessary should we somehow come to a place of a pure democracy that would require the people to make all the decisions concerning every law. During the last several election cycles there has been so much voter apathy one could see where we might be at a place that some people would insist on the people deciding, because they know that then only a very small percentage of the registered voters would really care enough to become informed on the issues and even a smaller number would care enough to invest the necessary time to go to the polls and vote on election day.

In a real representative democratic republic, the people would be informed on the candidates they are electing and hold those elected to the values on which they ran and were placed in office.

Call me naïve but I am still waiting for the elected politicians to come to the point to understand they are accountable to the special interest group known as “citizens” who elected them to office. We are at the point in our history where we must insist on a real representative democratic republic form of government, not a pure democracy and certainly never a mobocracy.

Ray Newman:  All Rights Reserved

Questions about "End Time!"

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement on the situation in Libya from his office in Washington, DC., March 20, 2011. “The United States has a moral obligation to stand with those who seek freedom from oppressions and self-government for their people. It’s unacceptable and outrageous for Qadhafi to attack his own people and the violence must stop.” His statement continued: “The President is the commander-in-chief, but the Administration has a responsibility to define for the American people, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is, better explain what America’s role is in achieving that mission, and make clear how it will be accomplished. Before any further military commitments are made, the Administration must do a better job of communicating to the American people and to Congress about our mission in Libya and how it will be achieved.”

Last Saturday from Rio de Janerio, President Obama authorized military action to assist in the enforcement of the United Nation’s resolution creating a no-fly zone over the nation of Libya. For several weeks, a civil war has been raging in that nation in North Africa. Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator in Libya, has been bombing his own people in order to push back the rebellion against his dictatorship in Libya. Within minutes of the order by President Obama, missiles were fired into targets inside Libya. President Obama has pledged there will be no US troops on the ground in Libya.

Our country is still engaged on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now we are joining with other nations in fighting in a civil war in Libya.  All the time this is going on in other countries and President Obama is out of the country we have no budget by which to operate our government.  There is a continuing budget resolution, but we do not have a budget while our deficit and national debt continues to spiral out of control. Media sources report we have to borrow $5 billion a day to continue at the current spending limit in our country. Unemployment remains over 9% with many people having been out of work for two or three years without a livable income for their families. Business failures, personal bankruptcies, and home foreclosures continue daily in our country. Many economic experts believe we are headed toward a European style value added tax that will further cripple the majority of the working people in our country who are already taxed to the maximum of their ability to pay.

Added to the misery chronicled above are the natural disasters no one can predict or control. The latest major disaster occurred in Japan with the 9.0 earthquake and the resultant tsunami. The crisis concerning the meltdown inside the nuclear plants in Japan continues to make headlines daily.  Government officials in Japan have said their nation is facing the greatest challenge since World War II. While putting their best positive spin on the crisis, the officials inside Japan are calling the people to rally to rebuild their nation as they have in the past.

Each day brings another negative report about the global economy. The unrest in the Middle East and Northern Africa continues to spread almost daily into other countries.  For me, the interesting discussions that are following these national and international concerns are questions about “end times” and prophecy.

 During the last several weeks, I have received more questions about Bible prophecy and my opinion about what the Bible has to say about these events that are now piling up all around the world. Some people who would normally never give an impression that they cared knowing about the Bible are suddenly asking questions about Armageddon. Armageddon is the biblical account of the major war that is predicted during the end of the age. There are various opinions and interpretations about the events of the end time. I find it intriguing that people are beginning to want to have answers to questions related to the biblical view of the end of the age. It is interesting to see the response of people who otherwise seem as if they could not care any less to know anything about biblical prophecy to suddenly be concerned about the signs of the end of time.  It finally seems events in the world are getting the attention of people causing them to seek answers to questions that have eternal significance rather than just caring about the immediate time.

Ray Newman:  All Rights Reserved

Big Government vs Personal Responsibility

 Pseudo intellectuals enjoy creating presuppositions that exist only in their minds and then develop other smaller presuppositions that they connect to make a point. Once, when hearing a dean from a major university speaking on a subject that was barely known by any who sat in the audience, two people, as they left the lecture said; “Wasn’t he confusing on a higher level.”  To satisfy some of my readers, what I just said was, some people are so sure they are intellectual giants that when they have no real point to make on any given subject, the quicker they can confuse the subject by injecting big words, the surer they are that those hearing them will think they are smart.  One could say that what is happening with this exercise in intellectual gymnastics is people are connecting dots that have been imagined and thus when they finish drawing their picture it means nothing. We are currently thrust into an international debate about how much government is too much. The big government crowd has always lobbied for more and larger government control over every area of an individual’s life. The conservative side of the debate has always injected the concept of personal responsibility and limited government to allow for the greater amount of personal freedom, thereby leaving the risk for success or failure with the individual. The bigger government folks want to be sure that every person is guaranteed success. That is success as the bigger government defines it. The bigger government people continue to harp on the fact that the government will take care of a person from the cradle (if they can manage to be born) until the grave. There has also been a suggestion; there comes a time in every person’s life when they are no longer of value to the government so therefore, they are expendable. 

As the debate rages on, we have come to a point to understand this as being on the level of personal worth and what value can be assigned to a person’s life. The value of a person’s life is defined by the government as the value of a person to the government, not to the culture, or familial environment. When the presupposition is that a person’s value is to be determined by the government, the obvious answer is the person of no value to the government is expendable.

The personal responsibility crowd would argue for the intrinsic value of personhood from the point of conception. The value that is placed upon the embryo in the lab or in the womb would be seen as equal. Allowing for the individual freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we could conclude that granted those freedoms, each person is responsible to develop in a free society to achieve the level of success to which they would aspire. Every time the government gets involved in making decisions about the level of success allowable to individuals, they always restrict rather than release the person to achieve or fail on their own. The cries for freedom we have been hearing from the crowds in the streets of the Middle East call for personal achievement and freedom, not government control. They are crying out for less government, not more government.  The reforms that follow a change in government for those in the Middle East would be to allow for movement upward in personal goals and achievement.

On a more practical and personal level, we are seeing across our nation the states, cities, and counties struggling with the fact that government has grown too large and now it is time to pay for bigger government. As the money is no longer available to the government to pay for the grants, entitlements, and doles, cuts are required to balance the budget to the horror of some who have felt government would always provide. The solution offered by the bigger government folks is to raise taxes on the populace. The solution presented by the personal responsibility crowd is government must learn to live within its means. What we are seeing in Wisconsin and other states is the push back upon the government who promised to always supply every want and wish of the people and it can no longer carry out that promise. The answer to this dilemma is to be found in the personal responsibility of the people and not bigger government with promises to give us everything we think we need.

Ray Newman February 2011, All Rights Reserved

The struggle between producers and confiscators

The fight for liberty and freedom continues and must ever be on the minds of those of us who wish to remain free. Our founders were certain that we have the rights given to us from our Creator for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life begins at conception and deserves the opportunity to know the full assurance of life in order to one day enjoy liberty and be free to pursue happiness.

The struggle for freedom and liberty has never been between the haves and the have-nots in societies. The struggle for freedom when it has been fought has always been between the producers and the confiscators. The majority of the people of a culture are producers in order to provide for themselves and their families. As governments have been organized there is power inherent in their structure. That structure requires the producers to provide for those in power and for others the government believes should receive.

It has been my observation that people have power because it is given to them. Government has power because the people grant it. It is when the government demands power and finds ways of conscripting the power for itself, that we begin to see our liberties and freedoms diminish. When the producing class becomes smaller and the demands for what they provide grow greater is when we begin to see the agitation of the people in the culture. Again, this is not a struggle between the haves and have-nots, but a struggle between the providers and the confiscators. Government is necessary, but only in a limited sense. When we are required to depend upon government for every aspect of life is when we have lost most, if not all of our liberties and freedoms.

There are people who argue that we have gone too far down the road to make a change in our government structure. We have generations of citizens who are certain that the government must guarantee them all the necessities and wants they have in life. What seems to have been missed in all of the government promises and doles to so many is that someone somewhere has to be a producer and provide what is then being redistributed to others. We have become so callused that we continue to demand more from our government than it can ever possibly provide and we rebel at the thought of cutting government programs even though we know they cannot be sustained over several generations.

Every time there is a new government spending program there can be certainty that it will require taking from one group in order to give to another group in society. We are at the point where we now are taking from future generations in order to placate the current dole receivers. As this pattern continues, it will require a stronger and more aggressive government in order to exact larger shares from the producers and providers in life. As this pattern plays out, government becomes stronger and the people weaker with fewer freedoms. With fewer freedoms there is an almost certainty that happiness will no longer be pursued and conflict arises between citizens.

We have a ruling elite class that believes they know better how to spend our money than we do. They require from the citizens a high price in order to sustain their lifestyle and to be able to give more to the non producers in life. With every new government spending program there is a promise of money to some group, but in order to fund the program there are cuts from other programs.  The government that has already confiscated money to put into a government program then takes the money from that program in order to fund another government give-away. This type of thinking can only come from those who either do not understand what they are doing, or they are following a well planned path to bankrupt this nation in order to bring down the country into a dependent class. The dependent class would no longer be producers, but would be on the receiving end of what others have taken from them in order to provide for non producers. This path will lead into anarchy and destroy our free nation.

Ray Newman, February, All Rights Reserved