Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Obama Threatens Easter Bunny? 

Washington elites are aghast with reports that a 135 year-old tradition in the nation's capital may be the next victim of "draconian" budget cuts. Yesterday the White House blasted out messages to Easter Egg Roll ticket holders warning them that "this event is subject to cancellation due to funding uncertainty surrounding the Executive Office of the President and other federal agencies." 

Evidently the "deficit hawks" in the White House -- the same folks who pushed a trillion-dollar takeover of health care and wasted billions "investing" in failed green energy boondoggles -- have decided that the best ways to save money are to cancel the White House tours and that pesky Easter Egg Roll. 

Of course for Christians, the holy day has nothing to do with rolling eggs, but rather the rolling away of a rock from the tomb. But if the egg roll is in fact cancelled, I know there will be many disappointed parents and children. 

Now if this budgetary stalemate continues, it will be interesting to see if the White House cancels its annual Ramadan dinner too.

House Questions Sequester Cuts 

Today the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee took testimony from three federal agencies to examine the logic behind the implementation of the sequester cuts. 

For example, why is the federal government threatening to furlough meat inspectors while it is promoting food stamps to Mexican immigrants? Why did the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency release thousands of illegal immigrants BEFORE the sequestration cuts took effect? Some were never supposed to be released and ICE agents are trying to track them down again. 

I applaud the House for holding these hearings. It should continue to keep pressure on the administration to go after waste and fraud. I hope the liberal media will give the hearings the coverage they deserve, but I won't hold my breath. 

Confiscating Your Money 

Yesterday I highlighted the raw confiscation of wealth taking place in Cyprus on the orders of European Union bureaucrats. I suggested that it was already taking place here in different ways. But I forgot to mention one of the most subtle ways it is happening in the banks today.

Interest rates are being held unnaturally low by Ben Bernanke and our Federal Reserve. Individuals who have played by the rules and were frugal enough to save all their lives are now being penalized. You are losing money every day as inflation grows and exceeds the meager amount you can get in interest on your savings. And it is happening by design. 

Building Alliances 

Catholic leaders are calling on the House of Representatives to defund Obamacare's contraception mandate, which the Catholic Church and many evangelicals consider an unjust assault on religious liberty. I stand with our Catholic friends in support of religious freedom, just as strongly as I stand with them in support of life and traditional marriage.

My recent USA Today column applauding the election of Pope Francis continues to make news. It was highlighted Sunday by David Gregory, host of "Meet The Press." You can watch the segment below.