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E-Alert 3.24.10
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DC Marriage Alert
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The U.S. Senate is expected to vote as early as this afternoon on the DC Marriage Referendum. Senator Bob Bennett has been championing this cause, pushing for a floor vote. The amendment that Bennett is putting forth guarantees District residents the right to vote on important matters by referendum or initiative. The District Council has acted repeatedly to limit the people’s constitutional right to referendum and initiative.
Please call Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Scott Brown today and ask them to support passage of the Bennett amendment. Explain this as the people’s right to vote on the definition of marriage, something that was denied to us in Massachusetts by the same tyrannical governmental mindset.
John Kerry – (202) 224-2742
Scott Brown – (202) 224-4543 |
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Lobby Day Wrap-Up
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Our thanks to the many pro-family parents, grandparents and other individuals who came out in the pouring rain for our annual Lobby Day at the State House. Those who came were treated to remarks by Rep. Jim Dwyer (D-Woburn) and Rep. Vinny deMacedo (R-Plymouth). Both representatives spoke about the importance of contacting legislators, and about continuing to speak up. They also both explained how issues concerning traditional family values transcend political party identification.
Our citizen lobbyists also heard updates from MFI President, Kris Mineau, and Catholic Citizenship Executive Director, Patricia Doherty, on both the “bathroom bill” and the Health Curriculum Frameworks. Armed with this information, detailed talking points and legislator packets, each person fanned out through the halls of the State House to meet with legislators and legislative staffers.
You can view pictures from this successful event on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/massfamily. |
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Tea Party leader has letter in Boston Globe
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Christen Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, had a letter to the editor published in today’s Boston Globe. Christen is also a regional coordinator for the Coalition for Marriage & Family.
The Tea Party on democracy: It’s not broken, but it needs a tuneup
March 24, 2010
REST EASY, Neal Gabler (“Politically exhausted,’’ Op-ed, March 17). The Tea Party Movement and the anger that brought it to fruition have evolved into energetic involvement in the American political system. We are not going away — not as long as the left’s political elites continue to use their incorrect interpretation of fairness as an excuse to insert government into every facet of American life.
The helplessness and hopelessness that so many in our nation are now experiencing are not occurring within the Tea Party movement but rather among those who maybe not so unknowingly offered their liberty up to the political class. We did no such thing. We may despise the path our current government has taken, but we honor and respect the architecture of our system. We know it is the only known guarantor of equal opportunity, an opportunity so many have died to establish and preserve. We are hopeful, and we are helping to get our nation back on a better path.
We do not believe democracy is broken. We feel it is due for a tuneup. We do not dream of a government without power, but rather a government with less power than the governed. We are fortunate to live in the most free and prosperous nation mankind has ever known. To settle for exhaustion is to dishonor its greatness.
Christen Varley
President Greater Boston Tea Party, Holliston |
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Family Research Council's healthcare report
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The Following is from Tony Perkins’ Washington Udpate:
Haunted by the Passed
He was the one none of us expected to be talking about today. For five months, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) stood guard on the wall between Americans and his party's army--a stubborn sentinel for life in a chamber of abortion-hungry Democrats. Without him there would have been no Stupak coalition, no Stupak language to ban taxpayer-funded abortion. In the end, conservatives couldn't live without him. Now, neither can the unborn. In the last moments, when members tried to incorporate Stupak's language into the bill, 21 pro-life Democrats voted for it. And for the first time in this Congress, Bart Stupak wasn't one of them. Instead, the bill--completely devoid of pro-life protections--passed with his help, 219-212*.
With the clock ticking down, the Democrat from Michigan stunned everyone by trading away five agonizing months for a meaningless piece of White House paper. With one-sixth of the economy in his grasp, the President agreed to Stupak's deal: an executive order that would somehow negate the abortion funding in the Senate bill. It was meant to reassure wobbly Democrats that the administration would protect taxpayers from any involvement in the abortion industry. Unfortunately, it does nothing of the sort. Just ask Planned Parenthood. In an email to supporters (subject: "VICTORY!"), the organization brags, "We were able to keep the Stupak abortion ban out of the final legislation and President Obama did not include the Stupak language in his executive order." For once, FRC agrees with pro-abortionists like Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) who told the press that the executive order "doesn't change anything."
That's exactly what FRC Action was frantically trying to convey to pro-life Democrats when the idea surfaced on Saturday. In a flurry of calls, visits, and emails to the Hill, we warned members that this order would be worthless in the long run because it cannot trump statutory law. Even the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appealed to Rep. Stupak to reject the compromise. Its legal experts were unanimously opposed. " The statutory mandate construed by the courts would override any executive order... only a change in the law enacted by Congress can... address this very serious problem." The Wall Street Journal seemed surprised with the deal. "...[O]f course," the editors write, "such an order can be revoked whenever it is politically convenient to do so." As an attorney, Bart Stupak would have known that this was an empty gesture on the President's part. More importantly, he turned away from beliefs and put that trust in the most pro-abortion President in U.S. history. Americans have come to expect this kind of betrayal from this White House--but they never expected it from the man fighting for life in his party.
The march toward a complete government takeover of health care is almost complete. As of Friday, the business community was already bracing for the hit. Caterpillar, Inc. reported that when the ink dries on ObamaCare, its health care costs will rocket to $100 million. Others, like Medtronic, Inc., will pay for it in employees. The plan that was supposed to create jobs will force Medtronic to cut 1,000 of theirs just to soak up the heavy taxes, according to the Wall Street Journal. If House and Senate leaders believed the American people would forgive and forget by Election Day, they were mistaken. Right now, the bill's new taxes and mandates are scheduled to start hitting homes in the heat of the campaign season. Meanwhile, nine state attorneys general will do their best to fend off the federal invasion at their borders. In Alabama, North Dakota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, a collective lawsuit will launch the moment ObamaCare becomes law. Before then, Senate Republicans hope to have killed the plan's clean-up bill, which is headed their way as soon as Tuesday. With a stash of parliamentary procedures at their disposal, they plan to lob amendment after amendment at the chamber until Democrats cry "uncle." If the GOP succeeds, it would be especially irksome to House Democrats who agreed to vote for the plan on the condition that it would include their list of changes.
As devastating as yesterday's result may be, don't lose hope. If this debate proves anything, it's that the abortion movement is losing supporters by the millions. America is radically shifting in its opinion of the unborn--so much so that the only way Democrats could pass this bill was by putting a pro-life veneer on it. Those who ignore the people on this issue do so at their own peril. During his victory lap, President Obama said smugly, "This is what change looks like." With all due respect, he hasn't seen anything yet.
* Who Voted for What?
Twenty Democrats were urged to change their vote from a "yes" to "no" on pro-life grounds but failed to do so. They are: Reps. Carney (Pa.), Costello (Ill.), Dahlkemper (Pa.), Donnelly (Ind.), Doyle (Pa.), Driehaus (Ohio), Ellsworth (Ind.), Hill (Ind.), Kanjorski (Pa.), Kaptur (Ohio), Kildee (Mich.), Langevin (R.I.), Mollohan (W. Va.), Oberstar (Minn.), Ortiz (Tex.), Perriello (Va.), Pomeroy (N.D.), Rahall (W. Va.), Stupak (Mich.), and Wilson (Ohio).
On the positive side, 19 Democrats voted against the Senate bill and for the pro-life motion to recommit, which would have added Stupak's ban to the Senate bill. They are: Reps. Altmire* (Pa.), Barrow* (Ga.), Berry* (Ark.), Boren (Okla.), Bright (Ala.), Chandler* (Ky.), Childers (Miss.), L. Davis (Tenn.), Holden (Pa.), Lipinski (Ill.), Marshall (Ga.), Matheson (Utah)*, McIntyre (N.C.), Melancon (La.)*, Peterson (Minn.), Ross (Ark.)*, Shuler (N.C.), Skelton (Mo.), and Taylor (Miss.). (* Denotes members with a limited or mixed pro-life voting record.)
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Judge rules schools violated Mississippi lesbian's rights
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A judge on Tuesday ruled that a Mississippi teenager living as a lesbian had her First Amendment rights violated when her high school refused to allow her to attend her prom with her girlfriend. U.S. District Judge Glen Davidson refused, however, to order the Itawamba County School District in Fulton, Mississippi, to hold the dance it had canceled over the matter. In his 12-page order, Davidson also ruled that the high school’s denial of 18-year-old Constance McMillen’s request to wear a tuxedo to her proms was a violation of her rights. “The record shows Constance has been openly gay since eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity through attending prom with a same-sex date,” Davidson wrote. “The court finds this expression and communication of her viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment.” The ACLU is now seeking damages and a request for attorney’s fees.
Source: CNN
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Special event for pastors April 6th
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Pastors from across New England will be coming together on Tuesday, April 6th for iMPACT 2010: Unleashing the Voice of the Church, an event sponsored by Family Research Council, Alliance Defense Fund, and Cornerstone Policy Research. Pastors are invited to hear from their informative and inspiring line-up of speakers: Tony Perkins, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., the Honorable John H. Sununu, Rev. Peter Marshall, Kevin Theriot, Erik Stanley, and Kevin Smith. The pastors briefing will be held from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm at The Event Center at C.R. Sparks, Grand Ballroom, 18 Kilton Road, Bedford, MA 03110. This free event for pastors includes lunch, but you must register online at www.watchmenevents.org or by calling 1-800-225-4008. Please RSVP by March 31. |
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