President Obama was kind enough to take time out of his demanding schedule — including luxury vacations, celebrity soirees, and 90 rounds of golf — to give the State of the Union address.  Expecting to hear his usual fluffed rhetoric on hope and change, I was surprised when the speech quickly turned into a berating of Congress for excessive job outsourcing, unemployment, and a $15 trillion national debt.  Lucky for us, the president offered his solution to America’s problems — more federal rules. 

The president explained that his mission is to “restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules,” but he’s making up rules in the form of executive orders as he goes along.  It’s scary that the president has set himself up as the referee over America’s companies, communities, and households, ready to blow the whistle when we exercise our rights and freedoms (and can he really do that from the back nine?).     

The worst display of overreaching into our private lives came when the president said, “I am proposing that every state — every state — requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.”  This proposal would require an executive mandate that would override state attendance compulsory laws and deny parents the right to decide for themselves how and where their children are educated.  You can bet that homeschool families are going to fight back.  The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has already issued an official statement opposing the president’s plan.

President Obama spent the bulk of his address telling Congress to pass rules that initiate clean energy.  I have no qualms with developing alternative energy.  However, when the president promises to make clean energy bills the federal government’s top priority — while 13 million of Americans are out of work, 50 million are on food stamps, and the federal government owes China more money than any of us will ever see — then I believe there is reason for concern.

President Obama vowed to save money by ending taxpayer funding of oil companies — the same companies that prevent government monopolies, create competition and lead to lower gas prices.  Yet just this week, he squashed the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, an endeavor estimated to create 250,000 permanent American jobs.  Additionally, President Obama promised he will “not step down from protecting our children from mercury poison.”  But what about the soul-poisoning effects of pedophilia, which proponents are working to normalize by recasting as a mere issue of “minor attraction”?  Apparently, that’s okay.

And ever the tree-hugger, the commander-in-chief ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to turn its attention from satellite and human intelligence gathering to climate research and development.  Likewise, the Navy has been ordered to purchase “enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.”  In other words, he is instructing our brave military men and women to cease defending our borders and fight the new terrorist threat — global warming.  In all fairness to the president, maybe his reasoning is that the more trees we have, the more structures we have to hide behind should terrorists attack. … Yeah.  That’s it.

Frankly, I think it’s long past time for us to remind President Obama that he is an elected representative, and not a dictator, before he redefines liberties and democracy and rebuilds an America that is destined to fail.

A news report from Osceola County, Florida states that 40 men were arrested and charged with trying to solicit sex with a child via the Internet during “Operation Red Cheeks.”  The men range in age from 18 to a man who will be 71 next month.  Child rape is acceptable evidently by teenagers still in high school and those old enough to be a grandfather to the child they hoped to abuse and exploit.

With the click of their computer mouse, these men sent messages – and sometimes pornographic images – to people they thought were children or, even more astounding, parents or guardians of children, to arrange a place to meet and have sex with a child.  The recipients were actually undercover detectives who deserve a lot of praise for being able to stomach doing a job like that.  Imagine chatting online with scum like those arrested.

So, who are the arrestees?  Are they society’s dregs?  Sadly, they could be your neighbor.

The arrested include a high school student, several college students, sales representatives, construction workers, a soldier, quite a few unemployed people, an “areole technician” (seems like a suspect answer to the question of what their occupation is and further proof of their degenerate behavior), a retired bee keeper (anyone else thinking of justice for him  and the rest of these men involving an angry swarm of bees?), a plant manager, a personal trainer, a warehouse clerk, a dispatcher, a wholesale dealer, an engineer, an eighth grade teacher, a vendor, a manager, a Public Works employee, a truck loader, a consultant, an information technology worker (you think this one might have been smart enough not to get caught), a professional golfer, and a swim coach.

Think about their professions, and then think about how many of them you or your child might encounter each day.

Take a look at their pictures.  You could walk by them on the street, and you probably wouldn’t look twice.  They don’t look like monsters, but they are.

Editor’s Note: This article was first printed on The Baltimore Sun, August 06, 2009.  It’s underlining message is as appropriate today as it was then.  Today, marking the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade desicion and as we prepare for the upcoming elction, we thought it important for you to read throught Penny’s pice once again.

The battles on Capitol Hill over Sonia Sotomayor and health care have convinced me that pro-life Americans should take a cue from a popular chick flick. A hit movie newly out on DVD recently proclaims a shocking truth to women who make excuses for the bad behavior of men they date. That fact is: If he lies, cheats and treats you disrespectfully, “he’s just not that into you.”

The movie evokes cringes as one recognizes realistic scenes of bright women and men making humiliating mistakes and errors in judgment. In 2008, many pro-life Americans made a horrific error in judgment. Exit polling from the presidential election sponsored by Beliefnet.com showed that 20 percent of those voting for Barack Obama defined themselves as “pro-life.” According to Christianity Today, 25 percent of self-identified evangelical or born-again Christians voted for President Obama.

Why? Most of these same folks turned out in both 2000 and 2004 for George W. Bush. The reasons for this change of heart are complicated, as in any breakup. They may have been reacting to the war or overspending by Republicans or any number of scandals. Maybe the spark was gone. Or maybe they were seduced!

It’s OK, admit it. He’s cute, he’s smart, he’s likable and he’s charismatic. He promised change and attention to issues men and women of faith care about, such as poverty. One Christian conservative professor even wrote a book proclaiming that truly living like Jesus includes a vote for Mr. Obama. (Good to know.)

However, pro-lifers have been wronged. This lover who showed so much original ardor lied to you – and it started on the honeymoon. On the president’s third day in office – one day after the 36th March for Life – he issued an executive order reversing U.S. policy that prohibited the use of U.S. funds to promote or pay for abortions abroad.

In March, he restored funding to the United Nations Population Fund that had been frozen due to its support of organizations that promote and even coerce poor women in other countries to have abortions. He opened the door for the federal funding of research that requires the destruction of human embryos and canceled the Bush “conscience clause” regulation that protected health care workers from being penalized for refusing to participate in providing abortions.

The president has meticulously chosen advisers and top administration officials who have outstanding pro-choice credentials, including Kathleen Sebelius, who is in charge of the nation’s health care system as secretary of Health and Human Services. Make no mistake; in Washington, people are policy.

Then, of course, there is his appointee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, who said in her Senate confirmation hearing that Roe v. Wade is settled law and that there is a constitutional right to privacy. Americans United for Life’s research of her record warns that she is far more radical then even former Justice David Souter.

There are many other “indiscretions,” but let’s cut to the Mac daddy of all slights: heath care reform.

The Obama administration is pushing relentlessly and recklessly for government-run health care that would force almost all health care plans to include unlimited numbers of abortions for any reason and would make Americans complicit in these abortions due to the pooling of premiums. The legislation on the table amounts to the largest expansion of abortion in U.S. history.

How could he, you say? My fellow pro-lifers, grab a tissue and listen up. The truth is, he’s not scared to get into a relationship, he hasn’t lost your number, and he is not simply busy. Noooo. He is in bed with someone else. That’s right! President Obama loves the abortion lobby. He takes their money and their calls, but more importantly, he does their bidding.

Molesting for dollars?

While the American Psychiatric Association toys with the idea of calling pedophilia by a new name — minor attracted persons — and calling pedophilia a disorder only if it makes the pedophile uncomfortable or distressed, Greece has gone even farther down that path.  The Greek government has added pedophilia to their list of state-recognized “disabilities.”  The government decision means that pedophiles in Greece will be eligible for financial assistance in handling their “disability.”
Greece is experiencing a predictable backlash.  According to World Net Daily, the National Confederation of Disabled People, (NCDP) a major disability group in Greece, claims that the new decision will enable pedophiles to get more money than “people who have received organ transplants,” and they called the action “incomprehensible.”
At a time when Greece is teetering on the brink of financial collapse, it truly is incomprehensible that they would add pedophiles, along with exhibitionists, kleptomaniacs, pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists to the list of official “disabilities,” thus making the government responsible for providing financial resources for those who claim those conditions.
Further, the action flies in the face of social science research that reports pedophilia as a condition that is extremely difficult to reverse.  One study found that pedophiles who are imprisoned are 42 percent more likely than other offenders to “re-offend” after they are released, with the incidence of re-offence highest for the first six years, but the risk remains for 10-31 years later with 23 percent re-offending during that time.  Greece is making a long-term commitment to entitlements for people who put children at risk.

The nation is supposedly in an economic recovery period; some are calling it the post-”Great Recession.”  Others are calling this time a “mancession,” because the trends are defying the norms of gender roles, child rearing, and employment trends.  Oddly, the new domestic realities here in the U.S. are global trends existing in most of the developed countries.  While these new changes – including gender shifts – are troubling here in our country, other nations are facing far more complex ramifications.  For example, in Japan, women face an increased burden as breadwinners, giving young women less incentive to marry and have children in a country that already has the fastest-aging population in the world.

According to the Pew Research Center, “From December 2007 to May 2011, the employment of men has decreased from 70.7 million to 66.1 million, or by 4.6 million. For women, employment has fallen from 67.3 million to 64.9 million, or by 2.4 million. Thus, while men have taken an early lead in the recovery, they still have far more ground to cover than women to return to pre-recession employment levels.”

The U.S. Census Bureau provides corroboration, “one in three fathers with working wives is now a regular source of care for their children, the number of dads regularly caring for children age 15 and under increased from 26% in 2002 to 32% in 2010, and one-fifth of fathers with preschool-age children now serve as the primary caregiver.”

To put it in laymen’s terms, as Dr. Mark J. Perry, professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan, notes, “Despite the recent job gains for men since early 2010, the Great Recession has still had a disproportionately and significantly negative effect on men compared to women, and it’s not even close: For every 100 jobs lost by women since January 2008, men have lost 192 jobs, so it’s still very much of a ‘mancession,’ despite the recent ‘hecovery’” (emphasis mine).

Statisticians and economists aren’t the only ones focusing on the recent gender role changes; the media and entertainment industries have brought the issue into America’s homes with TV shows like NBC’s “Up All Night,” a series about a professional woman, her supportive stay-at-home husband, and the adjustments they make with the birth of their new baby.  Then there’s ABC’s “Work It,” which debuted January 3, 2012, and “centers on two unemployed men who believe that the current economic recession and job shortage affect men more than it does women.  Lee Standish then decides to apply for a job at Coreco Pharmaceuticals dressed as a woman and is hired.  Character development, starting in the first episode, involves the guys learning how to be more ‘sensitive.’”

Even the retail fashion industry has recognized the ramifications of the current “mancession” with the launch of a National Suit Drive by specialty retail giant Men’s Wearhouse, which collected over 102,000 items of donated professional clothing and matched each of the 22,746 suit donations with a new dress shirt and tie to help men “suit up” for job interviews in an attempt to offset the “mancession.”

Such are the trends as feminists celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ms Magazine.  Seeing men emasculated by these cultural trends reminds us of our frequent warnings about predictable unintended consequences of public policy and cultural changes.

Our guest blogger today is Elizabeth Waller.  Elizabeth serves as a research fellow for Concerned Women for America‘s Beverly LaHaye Institute.

Once again, we need to be reminded about “the Reason for the season” and work on keeping Christ in our Christmas.  Many people agree that the commercialization of Christmas and the holiday season has pushed the true meaning of Christmas aside.  This year is no different.

Further evidence of America’s obsession with the commercialization of Christmas can be found in the latest PNC Christmas Price Index results for 2011, which, similarly to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is a reflection of American consumer and spending habits.  Based on current costs for one set of all the items mentioned in the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” The True Cost of Christmas (another moniker for the PNC CPI), is defined as “the cumulative cost of all the gifts when you count each repetition in the song so it reflects the cost of 364 gifts.”

Thinking about buying your true love the 364 gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas, this holiday season?  Well think again, unless you have very deep pockets or one of those magical money trees growing out back.  For the first time in 28 years, the cumulative cost of the PNC CPI has broken into the six digit range with the 2011 price tag coming in at $101,119.  Even if you were to only buy one set of the 12 gifts, you will still have to spend upwards of $24,000 if shopping in stores, or $40,000 if buying online (according to PNC, the cost of shipping live birds is the reason for the price disparity between shopping in stores versus online).

The structure of PNC’s calculation methodology provides plenty of opportunity for skeptics and critics to question the soundness and accuracy of the Index.  Some may argue, for example, if a musicians’ union would really offer the most competitive prices for hired drummers.  Others may raise an eyebrow at the figure calculated for the eight maids-a-milking, who “are the only unskilled laborers in the Index, and as such, they reflect the minimum wage,” according to PNC.  But this begs the question, how do you factor in the cows, and how many hours are they hired to milk?  And what about the objectivity of the vendor selector — by chance, they don’t happen to live or work in Pennsylvania, do they?

Feminists might make noise about the fact that the cost of “Nine Ladies Dancing” has increased by 300 percent over the past 25 years, due to an overall increase in the cost of entertainment, with some touting the advancement of women in the workforce, while others cry outrage over the sexism of choosing female over male dancers.  These are all interesting arguments best left for discussion at another time.

Rather than focusing on the whopping price tag of the PNC CPI and the overall obsession with Christmas time consumption, as Christians we should spend this holiday season immersed in the Word and reflecting on the Christ in Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong; the Christmas gift marketplace is not something to avoid altogether.  In fact, even Jesus used the marketplace as an opportunity to speak to His people, making 122 of his 132 public appearances in the marketplace.

However, amidst our Christmas shopping endeavors, let us remember God’s Word and message to us from 1 Timothy 6:17, which reads, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”  Here is proof positive that there is no need to spend $101,119 on earthly possessions, because our Father provides everything for our enjoyment at a very compelling price — for free.  Sharing this message with non-believers will be the greatest gift you could ever give them, and requires no gift-wrapping or bows.

And though gift-giving is an age-old Christmas tradition, starting with the Three Kings and their offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, let us remember the Reason for the season and be joyful recipients of God’s greatest gift.

Our guest blogger today is Elizabeth Waller.  Elizabeth serves as a research fellow for Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute.

Recently, Macy’s fired a female employee for confronting a transgender man who used the women’s dressing room.  Transgender?  Give me a break!  First of all, there is no such thing; it is a choice of behavior.  And hope as we might, our desire to behave in a certain way does not legitimize a chosen behavior.  It certainly does not entitle them to circumvent the rights of society and our moral tenets in order for them to “have their way.”  Natalie Johnson, the employee in question, was quoted in an ABC interview, “I refuse to comply with this policy,” and “There are no transgenders in the world.  A guy can dress up as a woman all he wants.  That’s still not going to make you a woman.”  And, “if you’re a man going into the women’s fitting room, I will kindly escort you to the men’s fitting room.”

Johnson said the man was wearing make-up and girls’ clothing and explained he was a female. He was accompanied by several other individuals who argued (with expletives) that Macy’s was LGBT friendly.

Good for Johnson!  For this she is, of course, being called a “bigot,” and many of the members of the press suggest she should have left her religious faith at home, as they believe it does not belong at her place of employment.  Dualism anyone?  Heard that one before?  Well, I suggest folks leave their sexual behaviors at home, thank you so much.

Macy’s LGBT policy allows “transgender” people to change in any dressing room they desire.  The company’s policy to protect the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) dressing room “rights” borders on completely absurd.  I wonder if a pyromaniac would be equally as welcome.  After all he/she was likely born to burn stuff, so…  By the way, the “Q” that stands for “questioning” opens a Pandora’s Box of “whatever feels good” sexuality, including pedophilia according to the definition.  Who’s to say that any person, including pedophiles, cannot go shopping at Macy’s, pretend to be transsexual, bisexual, or whatever they feel like that day and, therefore, be allowed in dressing rooms to peak at innocent children?

In essence, Macy’s department stores are circumventing parental rights and the safety of our children in order to be “politically and sexually” correct.  I say we teach them a lesson and shop elsewhere until they change their policies to reflect common sense values that protect our children from predators.  Besides, what does sexual behavior have to do with trying on clothes?   Are we really so dull that we would let this grievous offense go unnoticed and unpunished?  Do we really want to send our children into the Macy’s dressing rooms to try on a Christmas dress or suit, knowing that the store promotes the lifestyles of sexual deviancy IN THE DRESSING ROOM at the expense of the safety of our kids and, indeed, the decency of Americans as a whole?

I, for one, am sick and tired of the false compassion being shown to special sexual interest groups at the cost of the rest of us.  It is a dangerous and slippery slope America is sliding down if we let this continue.  There are groups actively pursuing breaking down the final moral protection of society by normalizing pedophilia.  Is Macy’s part of this agenda?  I hope not, but, until I hear otherwise, I will have to assume so and shop elsewhere.

Our guest blogger today is Janne Myrdal.  Janne serves as State Director of Concerned Women for America of North Dakota.

Want to start up a small business? At the federal, state, and local levels of government, you'll be responsible for 43 forms each year, some of which have extremely expensive penalties attached if you are late.

In the 1930s, Ruth Briscoe, a young woman from a poor minister’s family, was trying desperately to become a teacher.  Struggling like everyone else, simply buying food was a hardship.  In the midst of the Great Depression, Ruth could not find anyone to hire her.  But instead of relying on the government, Ruth relied on her creativity and sheer determination to earn money.  She created her own job by going door to door, selling fruit and candy she made in her humble kitchen.  Ruth’s home venture was so successful that the profits she made were enough to help her through that dark period in America’s history. 

Recently, President Obama appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss our nation’s current and extraordinarily deep recession with unemployment rates at nine percent and, really, 17 percent when counting all the people who are no longer looking for jobs or working part-time, and he used the opportunity to blame Republicans in Congress for blocking his policy efforts and stifling job growth.

One wonders why more people don’t take a cue from Ruth Briscoe’s entrepreneurial spirit and start their own business, thus, creating their own job?  Clearly, the growth of small businesses is the key to getting out of this fiscal mess. But things are different now. 

In reality, small business creation is now plagued by government regulation costs and increased taxes at every level of government, lending truth to the popular maxim, “It takes money to make money.”  Yet, for many Americans on a shoe-string budget, overbearing government interference limits their economic freedom to innovate and develop jobs.

Today, if Ruth wanted to start up her small business in my town, she would be responsible for 43 forms each year at the federal, state, and local levels of government.  Some of those forms have extremely expensive penalties attached if you are late.  Some areas of the country are even more burdensome.  And this doesn’t take into consideration all the other regulations she would incur.  God forbid if she doesn’t have a commercial kitchen in which to make that candy. 

Thanks to overregulation by state health departments, it’s virtually impossible to start up home businesses that revolve around homemade goods.  Now, I get that there are a lot of people out there who don’t share my sanitary cooking practices and the protection of public health is appropriate, but the amount of nightmarish regulations the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have created are overwhelming.

To legally run her home-based business today, Ruth would need to install a brand new kitchen in her home, complete with separate stainless steel sinks, counters, and expensive oven exhaust hoods.  Then Ruth would need to be sure her neighborhood is within local commercial zoning limits before she could even think about selling her goods.

The total cost of government regulations is reportedly $1.75 trillion each year with new rules and costs appearing every day.  It’s little wonder so many Americans who are trying to keep their small businesses afloat hire illegal immigrants in order to sidestep all the regulatory red tape.

Americans realize there must be an overhaul in government regulation, tax, and spending reform before citizens have the ability to create their own jobs and success like Ruth Briscoe did.  A new poll by the Polling Company, on behalf of Concerned Women for America (CWA), was conducted of Republican caucus voters.  It reveals that 94 percent of Iowa voters, 89 percent of New Hampshire voters, and 87 percent of voters in South Carolina agree that our burdensome government is stifling economic opportunities and employment solutions for Americans.

The government needs to butt out of private business.  In the end, it will not be heightened government rules that recover the nation; it will be the ingenuity, drive, and freedom of everyday men and women to take risks that will ultimately end this dim economic period and continue the legacy of American prosperity and success for future generations. 

Ruth Briscoe lived to be a wonderful teacher, wife, and mother to three children, including my husband’s mother.  Thank God she had that American “can do” spirit that she passed on to her children and grandchildren.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel: One of the white hats of the business world.

With the Penn State child rape scandal (and now Syracuse) still in the news, child sexual exploitation is a growing concern across the nation.  In addition to pedophiles abusing children for their own sick sexual kicks, there is a whole industry of pimps and criminal networks that provide children for those whose sexual obsessions drive them to rent the bodies of younger and younger victims.  Every year, thousands of children are trapped in sex trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and sex tourism – all victims coerced into a vicious cycle of abuse that robs them of their innocence.

According to the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section on Trafficking and Sex Tourism, “Each year an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 human beings are bought, sold, or forced across the world’s borders [2003 U.S. State Department estimate].  Among them are hundreds of thousands of teenage girls, and others as young as 5, who fall victim to the sex trade.”

When faced with such daunting figures – which represent not just sheer numbers, but young lives ravaged by a very real, and often undetected, kind of slavery – it is easy to get discouraged, particularly when there are so many who choose to remain ignorant to the facts or who throw up their hands in defeat. Thus, it is encouraging to see shining examples of those who are willing to take a bold stand, especially in the private sector.

One recent example is Carlson Winglit Travel (CWT), a $27.8 billion travel agency that caters to business and leisure travelers; CWT has joined the fight to help protect children against trafficking and child sex tourism.  On Nov. 16, CWT began inserting advisories on their electronic itineraries (issued in the U.S.) for passengers traveling to countries where child sex tourism is widespread, providing them with a hotline by which they can report suspicious behavior.

The advisory states the following:

UNICEF REPORTS THAT TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN FOR PURPOSES OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM.  THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT ADVISES ITS CITIZENS THAT ENGAGING IN SEXUAL CONDUCT WITH MINORS IS A CRIME AND IF COMMITTED OUTSIDE THE U.S. IS PUNISHABLE UPON RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES. TRAVELERS CAN HELP BY REPORTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY TO THE NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING HOTLINE:  1-888-373-7888.  WHEN CALLING FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.: +1-202-507-7966. CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL SUPPORTS THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN.

The effort of this travel agency is commendable.  CWT’s ability to influence travelers is substantial, as it provides services to some of the biggest and most profitable corporations worldwide, issuing hundreds of thousands of itineraries on a daily basis.

“As I read it, it just made me very happy to be a part of my company,” said Tammy Conderman, service center manager at CWT.  “Just knowing that our company is taking a stand and putting effort forward against these horrible crimes brought tears to my eyes.”

“This is most definitely a praise [report] and the timing could not be better,” said Debra Kohl, field coordinator for Concerned Women for America of Missouri and a personal friend of Conderman.  “Bringing awareness to a problem is the first step to solving the problem.”

Perhaps such examples of privatized corporations taking action to make a difference are exactly what our nation needs right now to serve as wake-up calls to those who sit around or occupy parks, waiting for government to solve all our problems.

Our guest blogger today is Lauren Levy, an intern with Concerned Women for America’s (CWA) Ronald Reagan Memorial Internship Program.  Click here for more information on internships with CWA.

As thousands took flight this weekend for Thanksgiving, turkey, and family, I was shocked to learn of an impending alliance.  No, not the longstanding alliance between me and the mashed potatoes, but an alliance of much greater significance – that of Delta and Saudi Arabian Airlines.  This possible alliance would have Delta selling tickets through Saudi Arabian Airlines, and I believe it could threaten our religious freedom and potentially the well-being of women flying out of this country.  Click here to see the letter I wrote urging Delta to reconsider.