Moral Side

Food Stamp Spending Has More Than Doubled Since 2008

In 2008, taxpayers spent $38 billion on food stamps. In 2013, that figure will be $82 billion.

Since 2007, the number of Americans on food stamps has skyrocketed 70 percent to 45 million people--or one out of every seven people living in America.

According to the Wall Street Journal (click here for article), the U.S. is experiencing a "food stamp crime wave," as the program is now rife with fraud, abuse, and waste.

As Rev. Jesse Jackson has stated, President Barack Obama should consider it "an honor to be a food stamp president." (click here for video)

- by Wynton Hall (click here for article)

Catholic Bishops Fight Back Against Health Care Mandates

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a “call to action to defend religious liberty” and is urging lay individuals to strive to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights.

In a news release on Thursday (April 12, 2012), the USCCB stated that it is calling upon dioceses to pursue a “religious liberty fortnight” from June 21^st through July 4^th, a special period of prayer for religious liberty. The bishops have published a document entitled, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” in which they assert:

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other.

We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today…for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad.

The document provides some “concrete examples” of how religious liberty is under attack. Among them are:

• The HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs
• State immigration laws which forbid the Church to provide “Christian charity and pastoral care” to undocumented immigrants.
• A 2009 bill put forward by the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut Legislature that would have forced Catholic parishes to be restructured according to a “congregational model.”
• The University of California Hastings College of Law’s denial of student organization status to the Christian Legal Society.
• The termination of Catholic foster care and adoption services in some cities because the charities refused to place children with same-sex or unmarried couples.

In their document, the bishops quote recently retired Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, who said, in response to the HHS mandate: “I cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience than this ruling today. This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic community can muster.”

To that end, the bishops urge that the fourteen days- or fortnight- from June 21^st- the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More- to July 4^th, Independence Day, be declared a “fortnight for freedom.”

by Dr. Susan Berry (article)

What Al Sharpton and Other Race Profiteers Fail to Tell Us

I was struck by the presence of Al Sharpton standing behind the family of Trayvon Martin as they listened to the special prosecutor make her announcement about the charges against George Zimmerman in the murder of their loved one.  I was struck; but not surprised.

Sharpton has made a lucrative career out of chasing tragedies, twisting them into his own vision of racial conflict, and profiting from it.  Fact and reality rarely get in the way.

The death of Trayvon Martin is a personal tragedy for his family and for the Zimmerman family.  I am pleased that the justice system will continue to work for the victim's family...and for Mr. Zimmerman.  I am pleased that Mr. Zimmerman is apparently cooperating with authorities.

I am not pleased at the bounty that the Black Panther Party put on Mr. Zimmerman.  I am not pleased that President Obama and other politicians are using this tragedy to increase their "compassion factor" and make false statements.  I am not pleased that race profiteers are using this sad event for their personal gain.  I am sad that the mainstream media is complicit in promoting false conclusions and is active in re-interpreting the evidence.

I am sad over the death of Aliyah Shell on March 17, 2012, in Chicago.  This six year old girl was killed by a stray bullet from the crossfire of a battle between gangs.  Nothing was sad in the media or by politicians or by Al Sharpton.  She was white.

We are being poorly served by the mainstream media when they argue that the death of Trayvon Martin is indicative of white racism and the epidemic of blacks being killed by whites in America.  Neither are true.

As to the white racism or lack thereof on the part of George Zimmerman I cannot speak because I do not know.  I cannot read his heart from this distance.  I do know that Mr. Zimmerman is as white as President Obama is (half, to be exact).  I do not know with what race or ethnicity Mr. Zimmerman self-identifies.

I can speak to the alleged epidemic of blacks being killed by whites in America.  I can because I can read statistics, and while each death is in itself a tragic event, we must look at these collected events to see if there is indeed a trend.

I turned to the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division ((home page) for information.  The most recent information that I could find was for 2009.  I have reproduced portions of the  charts with reference links on the attachment that you may download here (Download Homicides).

Allow me to repeat two important findings for 2009.  I use the term murder to include manslaughter:

• There are more than twice the number of whites (454) murdered by blacks than blacks (209) murdered by whites. (click here)
• A black person is 12 times more likely to be murdered by a black person (2,604) than by a white person (209). (click here)

Where is the racism?  I do not see it.

There is an epidemic.  The epidemic is "black-on-black" violence.

What is the cause of this violence?  In my opinion it is the despair, hopelessness, and fatigue that is caused the welfare policies of the Left that have entrapped individuals, fractured families, marginalized faith communities, and created a new slavery for blacks...and poor whites...whom the Left promises to provide everything in exchange for their votes.

You may protest that white racism can be found in the imbalance of blacks that are victimized by and convicted of murder in relation to whites.  Well then look at these statistics:

• More than 8 times as many men are murderers than women. (click here)
• More than 3 times as many men are victims of murder than women. (click here)

Is this evidence of sexism?  I have yet to hear that argument made.

Al Sharpton and the race profiteers are smart; but they are incorrect as to the facts and wrong as to the morality of their argument.

"The Moral Side of the News" Topics for Sunday, January 22, 2012 - Italian Cruise Ship, Indiana Legislature, and Paula Deen

Here are the topics for the program to air on Sunday, January 22, 2012.  You may comment on any topic on this blog.

The Moral Side of the News airs on WHAS-TV on Sunday mornings at 5:30am and WHAS 840AM radia on Sunday evenings at 9:30pm.  It may also be seen or heard in Louisville on the FAITH CHANNEL on Sundays at noon, and on various Louisville radio stations at 7am or 7:30am Sundays.

TOPIC 1:

Cruise Captain Says He 'Tripped' Into Lifeboat, Couldn't Get Out

The captain of the Italian cruise ship gave a slapstick explanation of how he ended up safely in a lifeboat instead of going down with his ship, saying he tripped and fell into the boat as it was being lowered into the sea, Italian media reported today.  "I had no intention of escaping," Francesco Schettino, 52, said during his first court hearing Tuesday, according to Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.  "I was helping some passengers put the life boat to sea. At a certain point the mechanism for lowering it, blocked. We had to force it. Suddenly the system unblocked itself and I tripped and I found myself inside the life boat with a number of passengers."  Once in the lifeboat that was lowered into the sea, Schettino insisted to the court that it was "impossible to go back onboard."

The captain also reportedly admitted to the court that he lied at one point when he assured officials that he had dropped anchor shortly after the Costa Concordia slammed into a rock to stabilize the luxury liner.  However a video by the Guardia di Finanza who arrived onsite 10 minutes after the disaster clearly shows that the anchor had not been lowered. Schettino admitted Tuesday that he lied about the anchor, the newspaper reported.

The luxury cruise ship was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew when it struck rocks Friday evening near Giglio off the coast of Tuscany, during a close pass to shore. At least 11 people were killed in the aftermath when the ship keeled over. Nearly two dozen people are still missing, including an American couple from Minnesota.

Schettino reportedly admitted that he made mistakes that led to the crash and afterwards, but said the ship's course, including the now-controversial close pass, had been set from the beginning. The cruise line previously said Schettino had made an unauthorized deviation from the programmed route.  Schettino, who is currently under house arrest, is under investigation for potentially causing the wreck by steering into the rocks and then abandoning the panicked passengers for a lifeboat as the ship plunged over on its side. In recorded radio transmissions released Tuesday, Schettino is heard telling Italian Port Authority officials he and other officers abandoned ship.  "And with 100 people still on board, you abandon ship? [expletive]," the Port Authority officer says in response.

Schettino appears to correct himself, saying, "I didn't abandon any ship... because the ship turned on its side quickly and we were catapulted into the water."  The recording goes on to show the Port Authority official repeatedly berating Schettino for not going back to the ship to coordinate rescue efforts, and at one point ordering Schettino to "get back on board for [expletive]'s sake!" TRANSCRIPT: 'Get Back on Board for [Expletive] Sake!'

CONTINUE READING: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-captain-claimed-tripped-lifeboat-report/story?id=15386279

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this tragedy and the captain’s explanation for abandoning his ship?

TOPIC 2:

Dems Face $1K-A-Day Fines Over No Show

INDIANAPOLIS -- House Republicans voted Wednesday to start imposing $1,000 fines against Democratic legislators who have resumed their boycott of a right-to-work bill.  Democrats refused to enter the chamber Wednesday to allow a quorum, instead holding an open caucus inside the Statehouse rotunda, surrounded by hundreds of union supporters.  "They have tried to stop you from being in this building. You wouldn't allow it to happen," Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer told the cheering crowd.

Bauer and Republican Speaker Brian Bosma squabbled Tuesday over what Bauer called Bosma's "manipulation" of an effort to put right-to-work legislation on the ballot.  The two leaders fought over who broke a truce negotiated designed to keep Democrats in the House chamber long enough for a vote on the Republican plan to ban union contracts with mandatory representation fees.  The legislation has brought hundreds of labor protesters to the Statehouse almost daily and spurred Democrats to frequently block action by denying Republicans the number of lawmakers needed to conduct any business.

Lawmakers had planned Tuesday to vote on whether to put the right-to-work bill to referendum before voters this fall. But Bauer said he found out late Monday that state lawyers had raised questions about the constitutionality of such a measure. He called it a trick from Bosma designed to give Republicans cover to vote against the referendum proposal.  "We will not let the Republicans press a crown of thorns upon the brows of the working families of Indiana," said Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Austin.

Among Wednesday's crowd were Teamsters members were wearing shirts with an XLVI and a slash, a clear reference to the Super Bowl, many shouting "Occupy the Super Bowl."  Teamsters Local 135 Director Jeff Combs said the union is discussing plans to protest right-to-work at the game so they can bring their cause to a national audience.  "We'll roll 100 trucks in here, 200 if we need to and put in thousands of people if we have to" to surround the stadium, Combs said.  A representative with the Super Bowl Host Committee told RTV6 that public safety officials will be ready to deal with any disruptions, but said they hope the protesters will realize what the game means to Indiana.

WATCH STORY: http://www.theindychannel.com/politics/30239912/detail.html

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this and the plans to take the protest to the Super Bowl?

 

TOPIC 3:

Anthony Bourdain Slams Paula Deen for Diabetes-Drug Partnership

Anthony Bourdain, a New York-based chef and host of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations," took to Twitter Tuesday night to resume his criticism of chef Paula Deen by tweeting, "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."  The comment is presumably another slam against the down-home chef's decision to become the face of diabetes drug-maker Novo Nordisk.

Deen, host of the Food Network's "Paula's Best Dishes," put rumors to bed Tuesday by confirming on NBC's "Today Show" that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three years ago, even though she continued to tout her buttery, artery-clogging Southern cuisine. She also announced the launch of her new campaign, "Diabetes in a New Light," which is in partnership with diabetes drug-maker Novo Nordisk.  Deen, 64, reportedly treats her diabetes with the company's Victoza, a daily injectable drug that is meant to maintain blood-sugar levels. She will appear in an advertisement for the drug later this month, USA Today reported.

But this wasn't Bourdain's first time criticizing the jovial cooking host. He told TV Guide last year that Deen was the "worst, most dangerous person in America" because of her high-fat cooking. Upon hearing of Deen's diabetes diagnosis, Bourdain had even more criticism to sling.  "When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 Diabetes. ... It's in bad taste if nothing else," he told Eater Monday.

Deen defended her decision to keep quiet in order to become educated on the condition before taking it public.  "I made the choice at the time to keep it close to me, to keep it close to my chest," she told USA Today. "I felt like I had nothing to offer anybody other than the announcement. I wasn't armed with enough knowledge. I knew when it was time, it would be in God's time."

CONTINUE READING: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/anthony-bourdain-slams-paula-deen/story?id=15386289

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Paula Deen should have reported her diagnosis sooner?

Moral Side Topics for Sunday, January 8, 2012 - Kentucky Felons Released, Gatewood Galbraith, and Presidential Politics

"The Moral Side of the News" is streamed live on Sunday evenings at 9:30pm EST at WHAS Radio. Here are the topics for the upcoming broadcast:

TOPIC 1: Kentucky prisons free nearly 1,000 inmates early

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) - Kentucky prisons are a little less crowded tonight, after almost 1,000 inmates were released statewide Tuesday. It is all in an effort to save money.

Kentucky House Bill 463 mandated the prisoners’ release in an effort to save the Commonwealth $400 million over the next ten years.

But some people think that freeing so many prisoners will not come without serious costs to society.

Dozens of buses left prisons statewide this morning, headed for the Louisville Greyhound Bus Terminal. Each was loaded with prisoners who were released in mass at least six months early.
Decarlo Robeson was one of more than 150 prisoners originally convicted in Jefferson county who returned to the bus station today.

“I think it's just a blessing. I get to see my family,” Robeson said. “I didn't get to make New Years or Christmas, but I'm happy. I’m blessed to be free.”

The release of 939 state prisoners six months early will save Kentucky at least $10 million dollars since each inmate costs the state more than $60 a day to incarcerate.

Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney David Stengel says spending money on prisons is the best investment Kentucky can make.

“Incarceration, oddly enough, does work, but we just apparently can't afford it,” Stengel said.

Stengel says that there are already alternative sentencing programs and other options aimed at keeping all but the worst criminals out of prison.

“By the time they end up inside a hard cell, they've earned it. Now to see them coming out even six months early bothers me. It bothers all the prosecutors. It bothers the public, I'm sure,” Stengel said.

“I'm a repeat offender because every time I get out, I ain't got nothing to go to except my family, who's got burdens of their own, you know. They ain't got nothing for you once you get out,” said an inmate who did not want to be named.

The inmates released Tuesday, some who have been behind bars a decade or more, enter a job market already with few openings.

They also all have felony records, making it even more difficult to find employment. That is why agencies like the Healing Place and Goodwill Industries are stepping in to help out.

“We can't do nothing about them being released. They've already been released. So we need to assist them finding work,” Kim Colbert of Goodwill Industries.

The inmates released who were convicted in Jefferson County included robbers, kidnappers and sex offenders.

Officials say many of those convicted of lesser crimes and are eligible for release have already been paroled in an effort to ease overcrowding.

WATCH STORY: http://www.whas11.com/home/1000-inmates-to-be-released-early-136575878.html

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on the state releasing inmates to save money?

WE WILL ALSO MENTION THE FOLLOWING STORY:  Gatewood Galbraith dead at 64

(WHAS11) -- Gatewood Galbraith, a "perennial candidate because Kentucky has perennial problems" has died, his 2011 running mate disclosed on Wednesday.

"Dear Friends I have just been notified that Gatewood passed away last night," Dea Riley posted on her Facebook page, "I am heading to Lexington to be with his family. Please say a prayer for his family and friends and all those who loved him."

Friends of Galbraith also confirmed his death.

A Lexington trial attorney, Galbraith's nine unsuccessful attempts at statewide office from 1983 to 2011 garnered much attention for his bold statements and views, particularly on the legalization of marijuana.

Galbraith also sought more investment in Kentucky education, responsible mining policies and an end to a "good old boy" system in Frankfort.

He complained that Kentucky’s systems were dysfunctional.

As a Reform Party candidate, Galbraith received 15.9 % of the vote in the 1999 gubernatorial election. He also ran for agriculture commissioner, attorney general and for Congress. Galbraith received 8.9 percent of the vote in the 2011 gubernatorial election.

Galbraith was 64-years-old. He was divorced and is survived by three grown daughters.

http://www.whas11.com/community/blogs/political-blog/Gatewood-Galbraith-dead-136659733.html

TOPIC 2:  Iowa Caucus Results: Romney Edges Santorum by 8 Votes

Mitt Romney won the first presidential preference contest of 2012 by a mere eight votes Tuesday, narrowly edging out a surging Rick Santorum in the Iowa Caucuses.

The two men -- neither of whom was expected as recently as a month ago to win -- ran neck and neck and finished in a virtual tie. The second place finish capped a remarkable rise in popularity for Santorum, who had focused his entire campaign and shoestring budget on Iowa.

Romney finished second in Iowa in 2008, but had focused his 2012 campaign on other early primary and caucus states. In this cycle he received exactly six votes less than he did in 2008.

In third place was Rep. Ron Paul, the Libertarian leaning Texan on his third and most inspired run for the presidency.

Read analysis of the Iowa results and whether Santorum can carry his momentum to other states.

There were some reporting irregularities from local party committees that dragged the election outcome into the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Both candidates gave speeches earlier in the night that sounded victorious. ABC News projected that 123,000 people voted in the Iowa contest, the largest turnout for a Republican caucus. Romney got 30,015 votes and Santorum received 30,007.

Santorum was boosted by evangelical Christians, an influential group in the state, and voters who made their decision in just the last few days. A Des Moines Register poll Saturday found that as many as four in 10 Republican voters in Iowa were still undecided.

CONTINUE READING: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/iowa-caucus-results-mitt-romney-defeats-rick-santorum-8-votes/story?id=15283406

RELATED STORIES…

Romney, Santorum on top as GOP race shifts to New Hampshire

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/04/politics/gop-presidential-race/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/bachmann-drops-out-of-presidential-race/

Rick Perry Moves Forward, ‘Here We Come South Carolina’

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/rick-perry-moves-forward-here-we-come-south-carolina/

Santorum Surge Brings Ethics Questions

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/santorum-surge-brings-ethics-questions/story?id=15287424

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on the Iowa Caucus results and the latest developments in the GOP race?

County Clerk Quits over Same-Sex Marriage

In July the state of New York began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  But one local official did not go along.  Laura Fotusky decided to resign as town clerk rather than violate her conscience by facilitating same-sex marriages. Laura, a member of a non-denominational church, said that the Bible “clearly teaches that God created marriage between male and female.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo responded to Fotusky’s resignation, saying: “The law is the law, and when you enforce the laws of the state, you don’t get to pick and choose.”

Fotusky told her supervisors that she had a different mandate: “I had to obey God rather than men.”

 

 

(From WORLD magazine, August 13, 2011 issue, p. 10)

The New Health Insurance Law Begins to Unravel - Major Program Financially Unsustainable

The Obama administration on October 14, 2011 pulled the plug on a major program in the president's signature health overhaul law – a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency.  The program became the first casualty in the political and policy wars over the health care law. It had been expected to launch in 2013.

"This is a victory for the American taxpayer and future generations," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spearheading opposition in the Senate. "The administration is finally admitting (the long-term care plan) is unsustainable and cannot be implemented."

Proponents, including many groups that fought to pass the health care law, have vowed a vigorous effort to rescue the program, insisting that Congress gave the administration broad authority to make changes.  Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was a long-standing priority of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Although sponsored by the government, CLASS was supposed to function as a self-sustaining voluntary insurance plan, open to working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers and could collect a modest daily cash benefit of at least $50 (a minimum of $1,500) if they became disabled later in life. The money could go for services at home or to help with nursing home bills.

A central design flaw dogged CLASS. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout.

After months insisting that could be fixed, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finally acknowledged she doesn't see how.  "Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Sebelius said in a letter to congressional leaders. 

The law required the administration to certify that CLASS would remain financially solvent for 75 years before it could be put into place.  Officials said they discovered they could not make CLASS both affordable and financially solvent while keeping it a voluntary program open to virtually all workers, as the law also required.

Monthly premiums would have ranged from $235 to $391, even as high as $3,000 under some scenarios, the administration said. At those prices, healthy people were unlikely to sign up. Suggested changes aimed at discouraging enrollment by people in poor health could have opened the program to court challenges, officials said.

"If healthy purchasers are not attracted, ...then premiums will increase, which will make it even more unattractive to purchasers who could also obtain policies in the private market," Kathy Greenlee, the lead official on CLASS, said in a memo to Sebelius. That "would cause the program to quickly collapse."

That's the same conclusion a top government expert reached in 2009. Nearly a year before the health care law passed, Richard Foster, head of long-range economic forecasts for Medicare warned administration and congressional officials that CLASS would be unworkable. His warnings were disregarded, as Obama declared his support for adding the long-term care plan to his health care bill.

The demise of CLASS immediately touched off speculation about its impact on the federal budget. Although no premiums are likely to be collected, the program still counts as reducing the federal deficit by about $80 billion over the next 10 years. That's because of a rule that would have required workers to pay in for at least five years before they could collect any benefits.  "The CLASS Act was a budget gimmick that might enhance the numbers on a Washington bureaucrat's spreadsheet but was destined to fail in the real world," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Administration officials said Obama's next budget would reflect the decision not to go forward. Even without CLASS premiums, they said the health care law will still reduce the deficit by more than $120 billion over 10 years.

"We're disappointed that (Sebelius) has prematurely stated she does not see a path forward," AARP, [the liberal] seniors lobby, said in a statement.

Source

Meet America‘s ’53%’ – And They Have a Message for the ‘99%’ Protesters

Meet The 53%. Who are they? The term 53% refers to the people who are actually parying taxes for themselves and for the rest of the country.  Click here for some of their stories.

An astonishing 43.4 percent of Americans now pay zero or "negative" federal income taxes (they have credits that allow them to receive income tax refunds without having any income). The number of single or jointly-filing "taxpayers" - the word must be applied sparingly - who pay no taxes or receive government handouts has reached 65.6 million, out of a total of 151 million.

Those numbers come from an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. Neither is a low-tax or conservative advocacy group; the Urban Institute was created under the Johnson administration during the Great Society era, and it receives most of its funding from the federal government.

"You've got a larger and larger share of people paying less and less for the services provided by the federal government," says Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. "The concern is that the majority can say, 'Let's have more benefits, spend more,' if they're not paying for it. It's 'free.' That's not a good thing to have."

By historic standards, today's situation is an aberration. Between 1950 and 1990, the number of owe-no-money federal tax returns averaged 21 percent, dipping to 18 percent in 1986, according to a 2009 analysis of then candidates Obama and McCain's tax plans by the Tax Foundation (click here). In the 1990s, the owe-no-money percentage hovered around 25 percent of taxpayers.  But then politicians began another round of tinkering with the tax code, adding reams of new pages to an already incomprehensible set of rules.

Democrats wanted to lower taxes on the least affluent, while Republicans wanted to lower taxes on everyone. The result was bipartisan enthusiasm for tax credits aimed at everything from children and college students  to hybrid cars and homebuyers. Many of these credits dole out cash to people even if they report no income, making them mere government handouts.

"There's no difference at all in terms of the effects on the federal deficit," says Williams of the Tax Policy Center. "It's perfectly equivalent. It's just easier to say, 'I cut your taxes' as opposed to 'I created a new federal program to send money to people.'"

Of course, this posting refers only to federal income taxes, not other taxes like Social Security, Medicare, state income taxes, sales taxes, or car registration taxes, some of which are extracted through payroll deductions. The owe-no-money crowd tends to get hit by at least some of those.  The perils of today's situation should be obvious. The United States is close to a tipping point - where most people can skip the post office run on April 15 to mail a check because they're expecting one from the government instead.

"It is somewhat odd that you have a decreasing number of folks paying into the federal income tax system, a decreasing number of folks who have a stake in what the government pays for," says Matt Moon of the non-partisan Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C.  It then becomes tempting to vote for politicians promising more and more handouts, paid for by money forcibly extracted from an ever-shrinking number of their neighbors. In addition to being immoral, it's poor public policy: people who pay no taxes but nevertheless get benefits are less likely to be careful overseers of their elected representatives.

"At some point people become less and less invested in making sure their government is accountable and frugal," says Peter Seep, vice president for policy and communications at the National Taxpayers Union, a lower-tax advocacy group. "If you pay very little for getting all kinds of government benefits, you might view those programs as a bargain, even though they may waste tens of billions of dollars a year."

As a candidate, President Obama promised still more tax credits, including ones aimed at child care, "clean cars," and savings accounts. As the Wall Street Journal explained at the time: "You can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer - a federal check - from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this 'welfare,' or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a 'Demogrant.'"

Click here for the main resource for this post.

Illinois Excludes Roman Catholic Agency from Providing Adoption Services and Foster Care over Same-Sex Unions

Illinois ended its contracts with Catholic Charities this summer after passing a law recognizing same-sex civil unions. The state had informed the organization, an arm of the Roman Catholic Church, that its policy of limiting foster and adoptive parents to heterosexual married couples violates the new civil unions law. Three major Illinois dioceses sued the state, arguing that religious adoption agencies have specific protection under the civil unions law, which is titled "The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act." On August 18, a county judge in Illinois rejected the lawsuit of Catholic Charities.

In recent years Catholic Charities has handled twenty percent of the state's foster care and adoption caseload. Now Catholic Charities will need to find other organizations to provide for the 2,000 foster children in its care.

Canadian Anglican Congregations Have Facilities Confescated for Opposition to Same-Sex Unions

Four Anglican churches in Vancouver lost their buildings when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear their appeal. Back in November, 2010, a lower court had ruled that their properties - worth $20 million-belong to the Anglican Church of Canada, not to the local congregations. The four churches, one of which is the largest Anglican church in Canada, left the denomination in 2008 over the blessing of same-sex unions. A spokesperson for the four congregations said, "We've always said from the [beginning] that we might have to choose between our faith and our buildings, and we choose our faith."