Courage

From Praying for Grace, via Mary Ellen Barrett.

Lack of Honesty = Not the Best Policy

Linked from Instapundit:

The Washington Post reports that "Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed. Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged. Instead, the campaign is scrutinizing its books for improper donations after the money has been deposited."

My only familiarity with online payment systems is in the software industry, where there are strict export control rules on what kind of code can go where. Similar to campaign donation rules, the export rules dictate who can and can't buy product from you. The Department of Commerce has a list of "no go" countries for technology export, and a list of denied persons. In the same vein, campaign donation laws limit the amount of money a person can give and prohibit donations from foreign nationals, among other restrictions.

In the realm of export control, you must have a fairly sophisticated system in place up front before you distribute technology. Many technology vendors use a pre-packaged software system that is explicitly designed to weed out fake purchasers and check the denied country and denied persons list. An individual using a "pre-paid" credit card wouldn't get very far, I'm willing to bet.

For the very same reasons - indeed for even more important reasons - a campaign should look to follow the laws regarding donations to the Nth degree. Obama defends himself by saying "the law doesn't require that we check beforehand, only after" but give me a break: what is illegal is using prohibited funds. Why follow the letter of the law when you are, in truth, breaking the spirit of it?

Scripture calls us to truth, to honesty, to right living. It doesn't call us to skate the fine edge of the law; instead we are to walk the straight, narrow path of righteousness. Read Proverbs if you don't believe me.

"He whose walk is upright fears the Lord, but he whose ways are devious despises him." -- Proverbs 14:2

"A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man." -- Proverbs 12:2

"The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward." -- Proverbs 11:18

"Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death." -- Proverbs 10:2

"Better than a little righteousness than much gain with injustice." -- Proverbs 16:8

Poverty and "Hope"

As a recent Pajamas Media article points out, the vast majority of African American voters will be voting for Barack Obama. However, as Obama's record in Chicago shows quite clearly, an Obama presidency does not promise much in the way of help for poor African American voters.

Obama on affordable housing: "'The Boston Globe on June 27 exposed the thousands of so-called affordable housing units built cheaply in Chicago by developers backed by Illinois and federal tax subsidies championed by Barack Obama. Sewage flows through many units; others are burned out with roofs caving in. Due to neglect by owners tied to the Obama campaign, many have been slated for demolition.'"

Obama on affordable healthcare: [Michelle Obama] "spearheaded an effort to steer poor black patients away from her fancy hospital and into local clinics. According to the Washington Post on August 21: Primary-care doctors opposed [Michelle Obama's plan] as a break with the center’s commitment to the community. Opinion research showed that a small but passionate group of people already considered the hospital to be elitist, arrogant, and lacking in 'cultural empathy' for the surrounding economically depressed South Side neighborhood, according to a draft report obtained by the Washington Post. Some doctors in focus groups dismissed local health clinics as 'wholly inadequate.' . . . Quentin Young, the South Side physician, described the medical center’s level of charity spending [on indigent care] as 'ludicrous.' Young, known in Chicago for having been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s personal physician, is chairman of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, a Chicago-based nonprofit that advocates health care reform. Young considered himself an ally of Barack Obama while he was a state legislator. 'That’s shameful,' Young said of the percentages. 'They are arguably, if not defrauding, then at least taking advantage of a public subsidy. We would like to see them give more than the minimum. The need is there.'"

Obama on subprime loans for poor borrowers: "The Congressional Black Caucus and key Obama advisers — including former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and Fannie Mae Chairman Jim Johnson — all used carrots and sticks to force banks to steer more and more subprime loans to borrowers unable to repay. The LA Times reports on September 9 that Obama is the top recipient of political donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives. The result: housing prices were artificially inflated and many black people who were conned into borrowing to pay the inflated prices are now losing their homes. Others conned into taking out unnecessary mortgages could lose homes they once owned free and clear. Now many black neighborhoods are full of abandoned repos. The foreclosed former homeowners will have credit ratings even worse than before and their jobs may be at risk as the effects of the housing crisis shake Wall Street and Main Street alike."

Read the whole thing, as Glenn Reynolds says.

Also, please note that the sources of these stories that PJM puts together in this article are mainstream, liberal papers: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and the LA Times. In fact, all three papers have endorsed Obama.

Does Obama really care about the poor who hand over their votes (and their hopes) to him? The evidence says no, but only time will tell.

"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."---Proverbs 22:9

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses."---Proverbs 28:27

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."---Proverbs 29:7

"The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just."---Isaiah 32:7

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."---Matthew 19:21

More on Hatred and Politics

James Taranto from the WSJ writes about the anger that is degrading the campaigns of both presidential candidates:

"For years this column has chronicled the follies and outrages of the Angry Left. If we are now seeing the emergence of an Angry Right, that is not a good sign for either the country or those on the conservative and Republican sides of the ideological and partisan divides.

Political hatred is not only wrong, it is counterproductive. As we observed in 2005, 'one reason Democrats failed to unseat President Bush was that they were blinded by their hatred for him. This made them overconfident, as they mistook their emotions for facts.'"

No matter who you're voting for, keep a civil tongue in your head, will ya? Unless we want our political process to resemble a UFC bout, it's best to treat everyone involved with respect--regardless of how you perceive they treat you.

"This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you."---Matthew 7:12 (The Voice translation)

HT: Instapundit

Hatred and Condescension

Is this how we're supposed to talk about politicians who hold different beliefs than we do? Or about those Americans who will vote differently than us on November 4th?

"[Sarah Palin is] a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne .... And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed middle-American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin' Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning."

"Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV -and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation."

I am not writing this in order to make an argument that Sarah Palin is or isn't qualified to be Vice President. I think that's your decision to make, and I'm not about to call you an idiot no matter what you decide. What I want to write about is hate. Vitriol. Poisonous, foul, ad hominem attacks made not just on candidates but on the individuals who decide in their own judgment to vote for such candidates.

This country needs to rise above this sorry excuse for political discourse. No matter what side of the debate you're on you should be disgusted with this substitution of prejudiced hysteria for rational thought. Our political process doesn't need this garbage--nor does our country.

"As you know, long ago God instructed Moses to tell His people, 'Do not murder; those who murder will be judged and punished.' But here is the even harder truth: anyone who is angry with his brother will be judged for his anger. Anyone who taunts his friend, speaks contemptuously toward him, or calls him 'Loser' or 'Fool' or 'Scum' will have to answer to the high court. And anyone who calls his brother a fool may find himself in the fires of hell."---Matthew 5:21-22

"Listen, open your ears, harness your desire to speak, and don't get so worked up into a rage so easily, my brothers and sisters. Human anger is a futile exercise that will never produce God's kind of justice in this world."---James 1:19-20

(both passages from The Voice translation)

See also all of James 3.

Idolatry

This video has been all over the web today:



Never mind all the Young Pioneers references, how about the Ten Commandments?

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me." Exodus 2:2-3

If someone starts singing hymns of praise to John McCain, please let me know and I'll post the same thing here. Just saying ... I don't think it's gonna happen.

Illegal Immigration

I'd like to say that I could write a lengthy and erudite piece on illegal immigration from a Christian perspective, but if I did so I would largely be plagiarizing from these 2 Tony Woodlief pieces, so I'm going to recommend that you read them instead. It will keep me out of trouble.

Decommissioned

The Alien's Thanksgiving

"Thank you, brother Christ, that you showed no restraint when we were the aliens, that you were not reasonable when we were far off, that suffering did not deter you when we had no hope and were without God in the world. Thank you that we live in such a place of prosperity and peace that we can actually believe that preserving this blink in the eye of history takes precedence over your calling. And please forgive us when we confuse gifts with entitlements, means with ends, and come to view our comfortable lives as your purpose."

Beautifully said, as usual.

More "Issues" Talk

Snippets from the Sojourners website this past week:

Quote of the week: "It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases." - Bono, rock star and anti-poverty activist. (Source: The American Prospect blog)

"The Bush administration believes this should be a “time of Jubilee” for Wall Street speculators, a time of debt forgiveness. But the current proposal would only place additional debt shackles on the next generation. There is no confession of error or spirit of repentance here. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s three-page bailout proposal to Congress could have been written on a cocktail napkin: 'Hand over $700 billion and don’t tie my hands.' " - Chuck Collins

"The goal of developed countries spending 0.7 percent of their GNP on aid has not been met by most countries. The New York Times noted this week that 'The aggregate aid budget of the most developed nations amounts to 0.28 percent of their gross national income ... The United States, shamefully, is at the bottom of the list, spending 0.16 percent of its income on development assistance.'"

*****************************************************

The thought that the US spends .16% of its income on helping the developing world but has $700 billion to spare to back up Wall Street is truly disturbing. On the one hand you have matters of life and death; on the other, a matter of money. And yes, I am not naive: I do know that a collapse of the world banking system would not do developing countries any good. On the other hand, the disparity of the two numbers is still shocking. What would you say to an individual who said "I don't give to charity. I just spend a lot at Wal-mart, because I know the stuff sold there is mostly made overseas. That way I get what I want and lots of poor people get jobs. It's good for everyone." Tell me you wouldn't want to sock this person, right in the kisser?

"No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money - but you can't. You must choose one or the other. Here is the bottom line: do not worry about your life. Don't worry about what you will eat or what you will drink. Don't worry about how you clothe your body. Living is about more than merely eating, and the body is about more than dressing up... So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today." Matthew 6:24-25, 34 (The Voice translation).

Medical Care for Babies Born Alive After Abortions

From Yural Levin:

"Barack Obama’s response ad on the Born-Alive issue says “Obama has always supported medical care to protect infants.” But in the debate about the born-alive bill which he voted against (see page 87 of this transcript), Obama said:

'[I]f we're placing a burden on the doctor that says you have to keep alive a previable child as long as possible and give them as much medical attention as — as is necessary to try to keep that child alive, then we're probably crossing the line in terms of unconstitutionality.'

So a child who has been born and is living and breathing outside the womb can’t get medical care because by some legal definition he or she is “pre-viable”? That doesn’t sound like always supporting medical care to protect infants."

Here's the Born Alive ad Obama is responding to:

Caring for the Poor

Here's some information on the candidates' gifts to charity:

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/09/biden-releases.html

Summary:

McCain: 27.3% - 28.6%
Obama: 5.8% - 6.1%
Biden: 0.06% - 0.31%
No stats for Palin

HT: Ann Althouse

Matthew 25:40 says ... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

The Value of Life

As is all too obvious, terrorists don't value life in the same way most people do. Instead they worship death, and use death as a means to any end. Tony Woodlief has written this on the subject, and as usual he says it much better than I do.