American Policy Center » 2003 » April
- The UN: United in Opposition to the US
- The Faith-Based Trojan Horse
- Senate to Vote on "Faith Based Initiative" (S. 476) TOMORROW, APRIL 9th!!!
April 28, 2003
By Tom DeWeese
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan continues to claim that only the UN can grant legitimacy to the United States’ successful war to topple Saddam Hussein. Rationally, that claim can be viewed as little more than a pathetic, baseless whine from those clinging to a dying dream of global power.
It should now be clear to everyone that the UN is a house of cards. Simply stated, there never has been a better time to topple this clownish international institution. All that is required is for the US to extricate itself from the many UN treaties, protocols and conventions that have pilfered our national sovereignty on issues essential to our future.
Only months ago that possibility seemed remote, even impossible. Many American leaders sounded the mantra that, yes, the UN is a despicable, even clownish institution that wastes money in an overbloated bureaucracy motivated by a decidedly anti-American point of view.
Still, too many in Congress hold onto the belief that the United States must remain an active member in order to maintain our leadership role in the world. We are the leader. We do not need the United Nations. There are voices of both Republicans and Democrats urging us to stay on.
Supporters of UN membership argued that without the recognized legitimacy of that institution there would be no possibility of creating an international coalition to deal with terrorists. President Bush tried to do the politically correct thing. He went before the UN to plead for UN cooperation. Secretary of State Colin Powell made compelling arguments, providing proof of the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein. None of it worked. According to the rules of UN protocol, the United States was supposed to continue asking, begging, pleading and dealing.
In such a world, the French ploy was a sound one. The French, allied themselves with the Germans in a bold attempt to diminish the influence of the United States. In fact, the whole purpose of the European Union is to create a mechanism for leverage against the United States. The French and Germans were just following the game plan they had spent years debating and creating.
If the United States had played by the standard UN rules, the French gamble may well have paid off. We didn’t. The United States, on its own, organized a coalition of more than 45 countries. We stood up for our own national interests and we declared our right to defend ourselves, no matter what the international community thinks. As a result, the UN and the European Union have both suffered immeasurable harm.
For those of us who have fought the battle to get the United States out of the UN it has been an astounding month. National television news programs, talk radio and newspaper commentary pages have suddenly begun questioning the need for UN membership. “Irrelevant” is the word most often used. Frankly, it’s like reading from my own newsletter!
Anti-UN sentiment has never been stronger. Like the shock of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it could all happen almost over night. As we’ve said all along, the whole house of cards has been propped up by American power, money, and military might. Take those way and it all comes tumbling down. How could any of us ever have foreseen such a turn around? The truth is there has never been a better opportunity to send the clowns on the East River packing!
During my entire political career I have argued that, if only the United States would do the right thing, without caring what the UN or pompous diplomats from other countries thought, then the world would follow. Finally, President Bush did exactly that and the world did follow.
It’s was almost comical to watch as the French and Germans jockey for roles, immediately after the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Suddenly they needed to be part of the post war rebuilding. The Turks quickly decided to open their skies to our planes and declared themselves part of the “Coalition of the Willing.” We’ve also discovered the true nature of our new “friends”, the Russians, whom we now find have been selling hi-tech equipment to the Iraqis.
Our nation’s decision to go it alone has the possibility of truly creating a real “New World Order.” One much different from the global village envisioned by the UN and those like Germany and France who hoped their past glories could be renewed under its socialist dictates. Instead, this new order could be one of proud, free, sovereign nations, operating independently, looking out for their own interests in a true free market and limited government environment. In fact, it would simply be the re-establishment of the proper international order.
That will only happen if President Bush decides to take his decision to its logical conclusion and lead the United States out of the United Nations. It was because of UN dictates that the United States was stopped from toppling Saddam in 1991. It’s taken us twelve years and more American lives to finish the job. Let’s not make the same mistake with the UN. By returning to business as usual we will only help re-establish the UN’s power over us. Ten years from now – in the next crisis – we’ll have to fight the battle all over again as the UN proves it is still an enemy to the ideals of the United States. To reasonable people it seems obvious that the only logical step is to withdraw membership.
However, there is great danger that the United States won’t take the right road; that we will go back and take our seat at the Security Council. The pressure has already started to lead us that way. It’s the natural order of today’s politics. In fact, it’s much more likely the Bush administration will stay in the UN’s comfort zone than lead the world in a different, bolder direction.
It doesn’t have to be that way. For those of us who desperately want to end American support of the UN, our greatest battle is directly in front of us. We must raise our voices in an unyielding scream; “get us out of the UN now!” Say it and keep saying it to elected officials, talk show hosts, letters to the editor and to your next door neighbor. Don’t lose this opportunity to rid the world of the most evil regime ever known. No, not Saddam – but the United Nations.
April 8, 2003
By Tom DeWeese
After fifty years of having their heads handed to them by the liberals, you would think conservatives would finally figure out the game. But they don’t. Liberals use conservative terms, indicating family values, limited government and religious faith to slip through legislation that engorges government and reduces liberty. And they are able to do it – almost every time – with the enthusiastic support of conservatives.
* Sell the most intrusive federal education bill in history as “restoring local control with accountability,” and conservatives rush to defend its virtues – even though it was written by Ted Kennedy.
* Set up a massive billion dollar trust fund to provide the federal government with the means to condemn and grab private property and then add enough pork to entice any special interest group, then get a former Democrat and a turncoat Republican to sponsor it and call it “our nation’s conservation legacy,” all the while pretending it has anything to do with the Constitution’s guaranteed protection of private property. Conservatives tell us they must support the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) because they must not look anti-environment, property owners be damned.
* And now, we get President Bush’s faith-based initiative. We are told that the program is designed to be an innovative initiative to use private citizens in private programs in order to cut federal intrusion in our lives. If there were any hope of that happening, The DeWeese Report would be the first to endorse the program with banner headlines. It is not. Instead, the faith-based initiative is little more than a Trojan Horse for the federal government and its mass of conservative-hating bureaucrats to bring their brand of poison to the last bastion of resistance, the Christian church.
First, lookout for that double-speak the liberals are so good at dispensing to gullible conservatives. Note the title: “faith-based.” What does that mean to you? Is your faith Christian? Then, to you, faith-based probably means Christian-based. Therefore you believe that the faith-based program will enhance your church. You’re a volunteer. You help with the church’s homeless program. If only you had a little more money from the program, think what you could do. The government programs don’t work. Isn’t it about time someone in the government got smart and stopped trying to duplicate your work? Isn’t it time the government stopped wasting tax-dollars and put it into the hands of programs like the one at your church? Gotcha! That is exactly the pitch the Bush administration is selling. Only reality doesn’t match the snake oil.
There are lots of “faiths” in America. Many of them have nothing to do with Christianity. Environmentalists worship the Earth goddess Gaia. So do the Wiccans (you know – witches). Then there is the Americans United for Separation of Church and States, better known as atheists; certainly not Christian – but a religion under Federal guidelines. That makes it, by definition, a faith. Don’t forget, Jesse Jackson is the “Reverend.” What’s his faith? I’ll bet he’s got one to fit the definition necessary for a chance at the federal pie. Are you getting the picture? Conservatives – flimflammed again.
Second, as reported in the April issue of The DeWeese Report (Vol. 7, Issue 4) federal money will corrupt the charity system by bringing federal regulations into private operations. The compliance paper work, alone, will require full-time staffers and probably prove a bonanza to attorneys.
Public policy 101: Once a private organization accepts public funds – it is no longer private – nor is it in control of its own affairs.
In this day of anti-Christian federal policy which bans displaying the Ten Commandments in public buildings; blocks the use of school buildings by religious groups during after hours; and disallows student prayers before sporting events, conservatives must be aware of how federal policy is enforced. There is enough evidence to say without reservation, that governmental shackles will be applied to any church taking federal dollars. First, regulations will require that no religious material will be permitted in soup kitchens or shelters in which government funds are used to provide the service. The giving of bibles or tracts or discussion about the bible to those aided by the shelter will be prohibited. Churches will be effectively silenced if they take those funds. History proves this to be correct. Liberal groups like the ACLU will file suit to make it so. Today’s mantra of separation of church and State will assure that they will win.
It won’t help to argue that amendments can be made to the law to assure that government checks may be issued with no restrictions as to how they will be used. The liberals have a long history of funding their cause this way. Right now, the Legal Services Corporation (a program of the federal government) can write checks to almost any liberal cause, even creating new organizations to further their goals, with no oversight whatsoever. That is very bad policy. In the end, this is the game the liberals are playing in endorsing the faith-based initiative. More government control = neutralized Christian churches.
Need more proof? Then just look as a few of the folks who are endorsing the President’s government-cutting good deed:
Senator Charles Schumer (D,NY); “I agree with you that faith-based groups, which provide invaluable services to the most vulnerable in our society, ought to be eligible for federal funding.”
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D,Conn); “To his credit, I think the President has made a convincing case for the constructive contributions that faith-based groups can make to meeting real social needs.”
NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond; Quoted in USA Today saying that “his group is likely to reconsider its opposition to the faith-based legislation once Congress and the White House make several planned changes in the legislation.”
United States Conference of Mayors; 70% of whom are Democrats. This group knows full well how to maneuver federal funds to their advantage.
These are just a few of the very liberal leaders who are coming to the support of the faith-based idea. These leaders have never supported limited government. So what do they know that you and I don’t? Why do they support this idea? Did they finally come to their senses… or are they in full understanding of the liberal trap that’s yet again been set for conservatives? And the list of groups with their hands out, shamelessly endorsing their coming wealth, is almost endless, but includes: Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA, the Salvation Army, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (one of the most liberal Catholic groups in America), National Association of Evangelicals (which is part of the UN’s very left-winged, pagan, Religious Partnership for the Environment).
Conservatives beware! These should be alarm bells telling you that President Bush’s faith-based initiative is yet another wrong-headed idea that will lead conservatives down a path very different from where they think they are going. You are not going to get what you want with this bill.
If you want to help private groups with their charity efforts, then work to get regulations off their backs like, for example, the Americans with Disabilities Act, so they can spend their precious dollars helping those who need it instead of paying for government-dictated building requirements and lawyers. That kind of action will reduce government and get the liberals out of our lives – and it won’t cost us anything. Or reduce taxes even further so that private citizens can support the charities of their choice, with no strings attached.
These are the only ways in which conservatives can achieve their goal of less government and a more human, charitable world. Conservatives once knew as a matter of fact that only less government will ensure more freedom and quality of life. Some now need to be reminded that dancing with the Devil will not bring you salvation in the morning.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
April 8, 2003
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S. 476 to include massive cash handouts for multibillion dollar land trusts!
YOUR ACTION NEEDED!
Tell your Senators and Representative to vote “NO!” on sections 106 and 107 of S. 476 (The “CARE” Act)!
The Vote on S. 476 is to take place TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9th!
The American Policy Center has long been opposed to the “Faith Based” Initiative because we know that it is merely a vehicle for government to get its hands on the inner workings of private charities and other organizations. Now, as APC News Wire reported last month, it turns out that S. 476, which began as President Bush’s Faith Based Initiative, has become a vehicle for extreme environmental groups to snatch-up MORE federal tax dollars and grab MORE private property!
Specifically, sections 106 and 107 of S. 476 provide an UNFAIR TAX ADVANTAGE to multibillion dollar land trusts like The Nature Conservancy and other radical green groups. These sections state that on sales of land and water rights, the seller will receive a 25% capital gains tax break—ONLY if he sells to an environmental group, land trust or government agency!!! HOWEVER, the usual high taxes apply to ALL sales to churches, orphanages, private schools, etc.!!!
Sections 106 and 107 of the “Faith Based” CARE Act UNDENIABLY HURT FAITH BASED ORGANIZATIONS!
THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE! SECTIONS 106 AND 107 MUST BE REMOVED NOW!!!
When it comes time to sell, property owners will end up selling to the government or the radical land trusts so they can receive the 25% cut on their capital gains tax! MEANWHILE, churches, orphanages, and private buyers WILL BE SHUT OUT IN THE COLD because they can’t compete with that 25% benefit to the seller!
MOREOVER, as other parties are discouraged from the bidding on private land sales, the competition amongst the buyers decreases! THE ONLY BIDDERS WILL BE THE WEALTHY LAND TRUSTS AND FAT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES! These groups will undoubtedly reduce their bids SUBSTANTIALLY because they’ll be the ONLY bidders, AND they can offer the seller a 25% tax break on his profits!!! PROPERTY VALUES WILL PLUMMET!
Sections 106 and 107 of S. 476 mean:
1. MORE money, power and land for wealthy, greedy, land-grabbing environmental organizations.
2. MORE property for the land-hungry federal government.
3. FEWER opportunities for “faith-based” groups such as churches, orphanages and private schools to buy property.
4. LOWER property values for landowners.
Sections 106 and 107 MUST BE REMOVED!!!
PLEASE READ THE ACTION TO TAKE BELOW.
WE MUST KEEP UP THE PRESSURE ON CONGRESS.
CALL YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS TODAY AND TOMORROW—EARLY AND OFTEN!!!
*Action to Take *
1. Call your Representative and tell him or her to oppose sections 106 and 107 of the CARE Act. House Switchboard: (202) 225-3121. Simply ask for your Representative by name. THEN, once they patch you through to his/her office, ask for the staff person in charge of the CARE Act (S. 476).
2. Call both of your Senators and urge them to oppose sections 106 and 107 of the CARE Act. Senate Switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Ask for your Senator by name. THEN, once they patch you through to his/her office, ask for the staff person in charge of the CARE Act (S. 476).
3. Write your local papers, call your local radio talk shows—TELL THE WORLD about this green hijacking of the CARE Act (S. 476).
4. ACT NOW! KEEP UP THE PRESSURE TODAY AND TOMORROW! THE VOTE IS NOW!
5. Click here: 
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