LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 10, 2006
HOUSE IN RECESS / SENATE IN RECESS
THE PRESIDENT
DEFEAT
President George W. Bush suffered a huge defeat during the mid-term elections at the hands of San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi, who will now become Speaker of the House. As Speaker she will be second in line for the presidency after Dick Cheney and one of the most powerful people in the American government. She is anti-war and anti-gun but very much for abortion and homosexual marriage. For six years President Bush has more or less gotten a free ride from Congress, but with the Democrats in control of both the House and Senate, his Administration will face almost daily hearings. Expect virtually every member of his Cabinet to be called before House and Senate committees to testify on every detail of every aspect of his Administration that Democrats do not like. Click here for my in depth opinions on the election.
THE SENATE AND THE COURT
PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION
Following a loss in the Congressional elections which has left us with abortion advocates now in control of the House and Senate, the U.S. Supreme Court opened arguments on Wednesday regarding the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban of 2003. Peggy Birchfield, Executive Director of RFC attended a "post arguements" reception following press conferences, rallies and prayer at the ACLJ with attorneys, NGOs and pro-life organizations. A partial birth abortion procedure involves killing the fetus just inches away from a complete delivery of the child. The physician pierces the base of the infant's skull with surgical scissors before inserting a catheter into the opening to suction out the brain, thus killing the infant. Because of the strength of the oral arguments presented Wednesday on two cases of partial birth abortion, and because the Court has two new conservative justices appointed by President Bush, pro life advocates have high hopes that the Court will rule in favor of the ban on this horrible procedure. The Supreme Court will take months to consider the case, and is not expected to render a decision until next June. Now that Republicans have lost control of the Senate it will be virtually impossible for President Bush to add another pro-life Justice to the High Court.
MORE CENTRAL AMERICAN COMMUNISM?
Former communist dictator Daniel Ortega has won election as president of Nicaragua in a fair and open election. Although he received less than 40% of the vote, two conservative candidates split the 60% vote of the people and allowed the former dictator to come back to power. (Click here for Forbes article) During the reign of his Sandinistas, the middle class of Nicaragua lost all of their assets and business was destroyed while Ortega spent most of the nation's money building the largest army in Central America with Soviet arms. Seeing the danger, President Ronald Reagan helped to fund the Contras as a counter revolutionary movement to oust Ortega. The armed resistance, which the Democratic controlled Congress fought hard to stop, eventually forced Ortega to conduct free elections, which he lost.
Ortega now claims to be a new and different man despite still living in a home he seized while he was dictator. He says he has accepted Christ and has even married his former mistress in the Catholic Church. Just two years ago he met with Robert Armstrong, a Religious Freedom Coalition board member, and told him eye to eye that he was a changed man who had accepted Christ. This is a far cry from the man who many believe ordered the assassination of Catholic priests who fought him while he was in power. The next few years will tell whether Ortega has truly changed or not. During his former presidency I was the director of Freedom's Friends, an organization that assisted the families who fled from communist oppression in Nicaragua. I wrote a book a about the struggle to free Nicaragua called Nicaragua, Portrait of a Tragedy. The book contains many photos of me behind enemy lines during the Contra wars as well as at the White House with President Reagan. If you have an interest in the struggle to free Nicaragua when it was a communist slave state the book is available for just $2.95 at our Internet store. I will autograph it for an additional $10.00 gift to the RFC. Click here or on the image for more information. Click here for my other books.
PLEASE READ
Donations to social conservative groups have been dropping at a steady pace ever since the Republicans took over the Congress in 1994. I think many folks believed those good "conservative" Republicans would take care of everything and groups like the Religious Freedom Coalition just did not need funding any more. The Republican House and Senate is a thing of the past and it probably is not coming back soon. If social conservatives want to be represented in Washington, DC they are going to have to dig deep in their pockets and support groups like ours. Click here to give a gift or send your tax deductible donation to the address below.
William J Murray, Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition , PO Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013 - (202) 543-0300
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This publication is a service of the Religious Freedom Coalition (RFC). Links to political and other sites are for informational purposes and do not constitute endorsement. No statement is intended to assist or defeat any candidate running for public office.
Religious Freedom Coalition * Copyright - 2006