May 31, 2006 Liberals Don't Feel Your Pain at the Pump Liberals in the U.S. Senate wring their hands and complain of high gasoline prices. They try to lay high oil and gas prices at the door of President George W. Bush – who else? The evidence, however, fails to turn up a single “fingerprint of the president’s on the high price stickers for fuel. But the fingerprints of liberal senators are found all over high fuel prices. For the present, we can defer judgment on the House, which has repeatedly voted to permit drilling for oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and some offshore areas on both coasts, development that Senate Liberals have blocked. Those opposing a more secure domestic oil supply, loudly led by Sen. Dick “No Drill” Durbin, D-IL, work themselves into a fevered fit when someone proposes we take an initiative to develop our own natural resources. Just the mention of ANWR sets off bloated blathering about how we can “save” our way out of the oil shortage, and get a “free ride” from alternative energy sources. The claims are greatly exaggerated. We can improve the gas mileage of vehicles as much as technology and driving habits permit, and make wild claims for biomass fuels, but neither will help more than a small percentage of our total energy requirements. If we work hard at honing the technology for both, we could, over the next 10 to 20 years, possibly supply something like five to 10 percent of our energy needs. That is, unless we become a nation of bicyclists such China was before their citizens were allowed to own and drive automobiles. There’s no easy solution, despite the claims of Senate Liberals, who often display abysmal ignorance on the subject. We could be doing some things to help over the near term, however, if we could replace about 10 senate liberals with people who put their country above their own political agenda. Coming issues of Sage Commentary will explore the national energy crisis in greater detail. In the meantime, voters should take note of who in the Senate votes for more energy from areas we control, and who makes claims for alternative fuels that neither they nor science and engineering can back up. Just make note of who – and who does not – “feel your pain” at the pump. Rob Wal-Mart to Pay Peter and Paul? A national retail industry trade association recently filed suit challenging a Maryland law designed to coerce Wal-Mart into spending more money on health care for its employees. The law requires companies with more than 10,000 employees in Maryland to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care or pay the difference to Maryland’s Medicaid fund. Wal-Mart is the only company in Maryland of that size that doesn’t meet the 8% threshold. Supporters of the Maryland law say it is needed “because some Wal-Mart employees rely on taxpayer-funded Medicaid health coverage.” I would hazard a guess that none of the same people have a problem with illegal immigrants relying upon state provided health coverage or other benefits even though they are not paying their fair share of the cost. Could it be that politics is the motivation behind these health care laws rather than concern for the taxpayers of the state? According to news reports, politicians in as many as thirty other states are considering such legislation. The growing government bureaucracies have an insatiable appetite for more money to fund more, and ever-growing, programs. What better place to get some of this money than from corporations that are generating revenues in their states? The average taxpayer will not squawk too loudly because he or she is not paying this tax (or so they think). The best tax is the one someone else has to pay and since Wal-Mart is a faceless corporation that is the current target of the mainstream media, what better victim? At the same time that politicians in some states (“blue” states like Maryland and Washington leading the way) are attempting to squeeze money out of Wal-Mart to support their health care initiatives, the governor of Minnesota was reporting that as many as 85,000 illegal immigrants live in Minnesota, at a cost to taxpayers of that state of up to $188 million a year. One would think that politicians would demand action to deal with the problem of illegal immigration since it results in the state’s taxpayers unfairly funding welfare and health coverage for those who are here illegally. But one has to listen long and hard to hear any liberals clamoring for stronger measures against illegal immigration. Maybe if the states were not paying out so much to support illegal immigrants, their health and welfare funds would be adequate. Maybe what is needed is a taxpayer suit against governments that ignore violations of the immigration laws, thereby imposing a greater burden on the lawful taxpayers. It probably surprises no one that the labor unions in Maryland were heavy backers of the “anti-Wal-Mart” law. According to news reports, these same labor unions are pushing for similar legislation around the country. And most of us know that strong labor union support generally means strong Democratic support. So special interest groups with political muscle are pushing these new laws heavily. One would think the media would alert the citizens of this country to the pernicious influence of special interest groups lobbying to get special legislation passed that targets specific companies. The Maryland law is a classic example of special interest legislation. Apparently the media is not interested in liberal special interest groups but only “big oil”, non-union companies and, of course, Halliburton. Has there ever been a more glaring example of the double standard used by the mainstream media in reporting today? Randall H. Nunn is a Staff Writer for The New Media Alliance. His columns can be read on TheRealityCheck.org. Two Days That Forever Changed the World What day do you think was the single most significant day or time in changing the course of human history? Perhaps the day Columbus discovered America, or the day when men first walked on the moon? Maybe it when Gutenberg invented the printing press, or when Edison invented the light bulb. These turning points in history could be considered among the most important of all time. But after pondering this question, I chose two days that, when taken together, make for the most significant turning point in all history. The first of these two days was the day that Jesus died. In that time, Jewish people lived by a promise from God that if they obeyed His laws, He would reward and protect them. Jesus came with a new promise: To show them a way to live with God forever, and on that day He was in Jerusalem to finish his work. He had come to die. The eventful first day, Friday, was the start the Jewish Passover, its observance would begin at sundown. It was no coincidence Jesus had chosen this day to die. The original Passover occurred in the time of Moses. On the night when all the firstborn of Egypt were to die, the Jewish people smeared the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so that death would "pass over" them. Each year, Jerusalem swelled with people to celebrate the Passover holiday. Inside the temple at Jerusalem was a heavy and ornate curtain, twenty feet high and more than an inch thick. In the room behind the curtain, Scriptures say, the very presence of God dwelt. The curtain represented the barrier between a fallen humanity and the perfection of God. Entrance into this room was forbidden to all but the high priest bringing a sacrifice. In sacrifices of those days, sin symbolized death, and blood symbolized life. Sin could be washed away only with blood. God established an elaborate system of sacrifices where the blood of an animal, often a lamb, was sacrificed for the redemption of human sin. The lamb chosen for sacrifice had to be unblemished. On this day, however, a different sacrifice would be offered. Jesus' own divine, Godly-conceived, and guiltless – unblemished – body would shed its blood to pay the human sin debt. On that fateful Friday, Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten, mocked, flogged, and condemned to a humiliating and disgraceful death. At the crucifixion site, the Roman soldiers offered him a sedative drink to dull the pain. The sedative would have dulled his mind, so he refused the drink. Jesus needed fully to feel the agony of his payment for sins, be able to respond to those around him, and to pray. He needed to fulfill all the predictions about him from Scripture. They nailed him to the cross about 9 o'clock in the morning. His agony on the cross was simultaneously both gruesome and glorious. By noon, the skies grew dark as the sins of the world poured upon his dying body. At 3 o'clock, still conscious and knowing that death was near, he uttered, "I am thirsty." They gave him a sponge soaked in vinegar to wet his throat, enabling him to gather the last of his strength, and to cry out, "It is finished." Then, in an act of will that only He could do, He released his spirit from his body as he hanged his head and died. He had completed his task. He had died triumphantly. At the moment of Jesus’ death, an earthquake shook the land. In that same instant, the curtain in the temple tore apart exposing the room where God dwelt for all to see. The barrier of sin separating people from the holiness of God had been removed. Jesus removed this barrier, and now we can come into the very presence of God. On that day, the power of sin had forever "passed over" believers by the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. That was the first day. The second of the two most important days occurred two days later, on the first day of the week – a day we call Easter Sunday. Jesus' death had overcome sin, and then by his resurrection He overcame death. And by that resurrection, God signified His acceptance of the sacrifice. By Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, a never-ending fellowship with God was now open to all who would believe. Some 40 years later, the temple was destroyed as Roman soldiers razed Jerusalem during a Jewish revolt. With the end of the temple, the practice of animal sacrifice ended as well. Today, the Western Wall and a mosque, the Dome of the Rock, occupy the site where the temple once stood. The sacrificial work of Jesus, however, remains now and forever. The presence of Jesus on this earth has had an immense historical impact. Those two days have affected humanity more than any other event. His conquering death has given a life-altering hope to billions of people. The world has never been the same since, because Jesus walked among us, showing us that He is the Truth, The Way and the Life. Jeff Lukens is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, a group established to promote and defend conservative social, political and economic principles nationally. |
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