Watching the current financial crisis online, while waiting for the October surprise of the bombing of Iran, all the while wondering are things really this frail, I came across this post at “the corner” of National Review.

 

 

For the life of me I cannot understand the Corner these days.  I keep wondering where the call to “Stand up and Yell Stop” that Mr. Buckley spoke of has gone.  I keep reading about the irresponsibility of House Republicans, but how is it irresponsible to stand up and say that you think a bill is bad for America?  It is the height of irresponsibility for the Bush administration – and all those doing their bidding – to be screaming “crisis” and scaring the hell out of the American people, holding a shotgun to Congress’ head and then saying “there are NO other options.”

 

We all get it.  It’s bad out there.  We’re way over-leveraged.  Consumer debt is out of this world.  Credit is tight at best.  And banks are insolvent.  We need to take action.  But darn it, we should take the right kind of action.

 

Are the following not real concerns about this bill?

 1)      The bill has NOT been significantly improved – it is essentially THE SAME as Paulson’s original bailout

·        The alleged “Congressional action” requirement for the last $350BB in authority is false.  It is, effectively, an “opt-out” by Congress, which if not exercised within 15 days of Presidential certification, expires.

·        The alleged avoidance of ACORN, “cramdown,” and unions is misleading – they were never in the original Paulson plan – only suggested by Democrats.  Republicans simply did their job to keep those out.

·        Other “improvements” are of questionable value – and pale in comparison to the harm done by the bill.

 2)      The Paulson-Democrat Wall Street Bailout will not work

·        Banks are highly insolvent and the capital hole to be filled would not be filled by this plan – and any attempts to do so under this plan would drive up the cost of the “toxic asset” purchases (see next point)

·        The supposed “profit” or “minimal cost to the taxpayer” is predicated on buying toxic assets low and selling them high – yet that inherently conflicts with the price point necessary to inject sufficient capital

·        But even when prices are bid up (because Treasury is incentivized to do so to make it work), there is no guarantee banks will use the money to then lend if they are still insolvent and facing a likely recession

·        This bill does nothing to deal with the over $60 trillion in largely unregulated Credit Default Swaps that are wreaking havoc with the financial system

·        The plan is operationally questionable – with little clarity about dealing with the pitfalls of price-fixing, how a “reverse auction” won’t be easily manipulated to allow prices to get bid up, and other problems 

3)      The Paulson-Democrat Wall Street Bailout will arguably make things WORSE, not better

·        The plan does nothing to address the immediate commercial banking concerns – withdrawals by citizens increasingly panicked by an administration and Congress apparently hell bent on stoking the flames

·        The plan does, however, funnel money primarily to the old-line, traditional investment banks – undermining the capital position of less leveraged, commercial banks so critical to Main Street America.

·        The plan has no restrictions on buying up assets from foreign banks – banks who aren’t active lenders in U.S. markets directly and whose leverage is far greater (40x) than even American traditional investment banks (25x), whose leverage is greater than American commercial banks (10-15x).

 

·        Moreover, many of these foreign banks are currently being or are soon to be nationalized.  Therefore, the US government would be buying toxic assets at above market prices to support foreign governments. 

 

·        We may blow the best shot the federal government has to use taxpayer money wisely to “work out” of the current financial situation – getting it wrong will CREATE problems and HARM confidence, because fundamentally underpinning this situation is the assumption that the government can prevent a meltdown.  If the plan fails, this opportunity may well disappear. 

 

·        $700 Billion is a LOT of money, and if this doesn’t work (and even if it does, to a degree), we cannot borrow forever – as we continue piling up national debt  – and risk the collapse of the dollar

 

 4)      The Paulson-Democrat Wall Street Bailout forsakes free market principles and creates moral hazard

·        This plan would have government socialize losses – and breaks the tie between risk and reward/failure.  Certain companies need to get wiped out – and doing so will be BETTER for remaining investments.

·        When government steps in preemptively and starts arbitrarily buying up assets, the expectation is that it will do so again and again  

5)      The Paulson-Democrat Wall Street Bailout is arguably unconstitutional

·        Possibly struck down for improper, sweeping delegation of power to the Treasury Secretary

 

·        The oversight mechanisms cause significant separation of powers concerns – creating a “power sharing” mechanism that runs afoul of the Founders vision of not merging executive and legislative decisions.

 

I am not suggesting that this is easy.  But the furor on the Corner for members who dare to suggest this plan is not a good one is weak and itself irresponsible, when no one is suggesting doing nothing.

 

And as for alternatives:

 

-         how about reinforcing FDIC to give people confidence in their savings?  Maybe more support for money markets? 

-         How about cutting corporate taxes or cap gains taxes? 

-         How about buying up (or financing the purchase of) the AAA securities that currently are having trouble moving but are not “toxic,” in order to increase liquidity and help with possible insolvency for healthier institutions rather than the old line investment banks? 

-         How about doing something about the silliness of the $62 Trillion Credit Default Swap market (e.g. the margin requirements, etc…)? 

-         How about immediately changing mark-to-market rules?

-         And – heaven forbid – how about belt-tightening in Washington?  Don’t hold your breath – but imagine what a signal that would send – a freeze in discretionary spending, a moratorium on earmarks and a real plan to educate America about entitlements and talk about the need to get our fiscal house in order.

 

It is very concerning how much the Washington Republican / Conservative establishment is jumping in line behind this bill because, we are told, we “must do something.”  Since when is that EVER a good thing in Washington? 

 

 

There is a part of me that looks forward to a test of our inner strength. A dose of Spartan discipline might be just what the doctor ordered for the sick American spirit. It is possible that the nation goes on a energy development, domestic production strategy that revitalizes something in us that all of these years of easy prosperity have engendered in us.

 

I don’t try to say my life has not been shaped by the easy credit, the rising house values and the attitude that I can have it all now. Myself, along with everyone else might just rise to the occasion of tightening our belts and looking out for each other instead of depending upon the government to solve all of our problems.

 

That anti-christ spirit that wants total control all of our lives is watching present developments closely.

Just an added note to my Amish post of yesterday. That link had some references to check out at the end of the article. I looked at the one that talked about “defections”, Amish leaving the Amish community. It turns out that the defection rate has slowed down to 5% at the one location studied. Interesting, the more strict the congregation, the fewer defections.

 

 

There appears to be a direct relationship, or at least an indirect one,
between defection and Ordnung. The Shipshewana and Clinton
congregations--clearly the most progressive--clearly have a greater
percentage of defectors than do other congregational clusters in the
settlement. In contrast the LaGrange churches have made the fewest
concessions to modernity in agriculture and in laxity of discipline, and
they have the settlement's lowest percentage of defectors.

 

“Ordnung”  are the community rules that govern the congregation.

We had a couple come out and visit us for church yesterday. Jack is on social security and he supplements his income by giving rides to members of the Amish community. When he told this to me after church I had to chuckle.

 

The laws that we impose upon ourselves in the pursuit of God through religion can sometimes twist us into theological pretzels. So an Amish person cannot drive a car but they can pay someone to drive them. Is it sin for them to drive a car? Do they think it is sin for me to drive a car? Or are these just church guidelines that apply only to those who submit themselves to the authorities of the Amish church? Or is the issue not one of sin but part of a larger reality of living a life in a way that allows a person to make it to heaven and not get captured by the world?

 

When we came out here to Sparta, we took drives in all directions from the town. On one trip we drove through some Amish country and stopped in their country store. We bought a few goodies and then were admiring their furniture for sale. I was watching a young Amish girl stare at us through the window. She wasn’t really staring at us but she was beaming in upon Audra’s hip shoes.

 

Just the far away look of that 11 or 12 year old, looking into a future she most likely will never experience brought a sense of the mixed blessing of her life. The safety of her Amish community verses the danger of the outside world. I am sure many young people leave that safety for the “normal” lifestyle of the world. Can they make that transition and hold on to their faith in Christ? Or is their salvation so wrapped up in the Amish way of life that et least in their minds the person who leaves the community is actually leaving Christ also?

 

I remember talking to a member of the Jesus commune in Chicago that housed the band “Resurrection”. Talking with him gave me the impression that they had tied salvation to the act of living communally. To stop living communally, going back into the world, to be selfish, to be concerned only with one’s immediate family was a bad step, a step to be discouraged.

 

I think all churches do this to one degree or another. I have thought about how my Christian life might be different if I had originally gotten saved in another church. I think this is why Paul said in 1 Cor 2:3 “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. Yet, we know he said a lot more that churches apply differently to their members.

 

Mostly, this kind of thinking brings me to the importance of understanding basic salvation doctrine, God, Jesus, died for our sins and rose from the dead, anyone who believes this is saved. We are then commended to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”. With this in mind I can appreciate the Amish stand for holiness. I glanced at this article: http://www.goshen.edu/facultypubs/GROSS.html while doing this entry. It seems that their clothing rules are not based on legalism but on a desire to keep the community together as an illustration of true disciples in their “love for one another”.

Here is an article by Jill Stanek entitled "Obama's 10 Reasons for Supporting Infanticide".

 

It starts off:

 

I was intimately involved in the five-year process to pass the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act, testifying before committees twice that then-state Sen. Barack Obama sat on.

Following are 10 excuses Obama has given through the years for voting "present" and "no" on the Illinois Born Alive Infant Protection Act, or BAIPA

 

 

Jill Stanek fought to stop "live-birth abortion" after witnessing one as a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. In 2002, President Bush asked Jill to attend his signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. In January 2003, World Magazine named Jill one of the 30 most prominent pro-life leaders of the past 30 years. To learn more, visit Jill's blog, Pro-life Pulse.

Here is an article entitled "Look Who's Irrational Now", by Mollie Hemmingway in Wall Street Journal. Here is an excerpt:

 

The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith -- it's what the empirical data tell us.

"What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians.

When you remove God from a person’s life it opens that person up to the demonic lies of this world. She finishes up the article quoting G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown character that all atheists, secularists, humanists and rationalists are susceptible to superstition: "It's the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense, and can't see things as they are."

 

The other factor that moves in a society that rejects God is the rise of accepted immorality, specifically identifying homosexuality as seen in Chapter 1 of Romans.

Rom 1:24-25

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie , and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. NKJV

 

The people that move into the arena of witchcraft and superstitions usually have their decision reinforced by demonic actions as described by “lying wonders” and “unrighteous deception”.

2 Thess 2:9-10

9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. NKJV

 

We all know people caught up in these things, the only antidote is the “love of truth”.

 

God says: “Who will go?”

We have been looking at the Sermon on the Mount for our Sunday School and I asked the writers in the church to write something to post on the board. This was written by Bonnie Eggemeyer.

 

Draw Near and Hear

Matt ch 5-7

 

He sat down to teach them

That day on the mountain.

His words cut to their heart

They flowed like a fountain.

He taught them of humility

Purity & contrition.

The persecution of the righteous

The demise of the wicked.

The meek shall inherit the Earth.

Knock the door shall be opened.

The merciful obrtain mercy.

The secret rewarded in the open.

He told us to be an influence

Salt and light in the Earth.

A call to be perfect

The Kingdom should be first.

Give a man you coat

And go the extra mile.

Turn the other cheek

Your blessed when your reviled.

Did they know who taught them?

Did they even have a clue?

The Creator of the Universe

Laying down pillars of truth.

Not the thunder of the Law Givers mountain

Unapproachable to common man.

A still small voice on a hilltop

Teaching a greater command.

The law of faith and mercy

Love God, be kind to one another.

Obedience on the narrow road

Shine a light for your brother.

Here is an article that adds to my last post. McCain at Columbia talks of American exceptionalism and there is not a single sound of applause. Here is the article.   

 

On the lighter side a video clip of a top secret Democratic election war room meeting.

There is an underlying tension in every American election that affects Christians and globalists equally. Both have an understanding that eventually America’s uniqueness will pass away and it will be swallowed up by a universalist ideology. Here is a quote from this this article:

 

One is a simple political-cultural one. This election is a struggle between the followers of American exceptionalism and the supporters of global universalism. Democrats are more eager than ever to align the US with the rest of the Western world, especially Europe. This is true not just in terms of a commitment to multilateral diplomacy that would restore the United Nations to its rightful place as arbiter of international justice. It is also reflected in the type of place they'd like America to be - a country with higher taxes, more business regulation, a much larger welfare safety net and universal health insurance. The Republicans, who still believe America should follow the beat of its own drum, are pretty much against all of that.

 

Christians see this tension and direction and scripturally know that eventually, after some incredible events, the one worlder’s get their way. Here are the end time scriptures:

 

Rev 13:7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Rev 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Rev 13:16-17 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

 

Is Barak Obama the anti-christ? Not even close. But it is a picture of how easily a world without Christ can be manipulated. Just look how a God rejecting Europe cannot fathom how Americans could possibly reject Barak.

 

Each election illustrates our 50/50 divide. The march towards one world government, religion and economic system marches on no matter who wins the election. For the democrats, they also know in their hearts that their direction is the ultimate winning direction. Where does this knowledge comes from, it comes from the same source that has the democratic party wed to abortion.

 

Seeing Barak stumble allows for the Christian to recognize there is still time to impact this world with the gospel.

 

As a footnote, watch how the media tear into Palin’s faith. What spirit are you of?

Here is a scanned copy of the card our chruch gave us on the Saturday following 9-11. Here is last years description of the event: http://directions.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!C35A9CA60DE39944!464.entry 

 

We just finished revival with Mark Salas. I had asked him to preach for us in a very casual setting in the city park for 3 days. We gathered together, ate some food and then listened to his preaching. We didn’t bring any equipment except a podium for him to use. I was hoping that the casual setting would allow for a “sermon on the mount” setting. I think he succeeded beyond my expectations. Nursery was a breeze with a playground right there. Everyone seemed very relaxed, full stomach and comfortable chairs. The two best nights included sermons on sanctuary and on the hidden scars of life. It was a great time of ministry.

Reading in Deuteronomy:

 

Deut 11:10-12 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; 11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

 

As I read this I thought of Zambia, a land that depends upon the rains coming in November to prepare the soil for planting and continuing in a hit or miss pattern through to March. I believe it is called dry farming, depending on the natural rains rather than irrigation.

 

So in Egypt, they depend upon the Nile and its flooding, making ditches to bring the water to their plots. Apparently, (don’t know for sure) in the land of Israel there is the “early rain” to prepare the soil for planting and germination and the “latter rain” that fattens up the fruit growing in the fields.

 

Mathew Henry uses this cross reference:

 

Ps 65:9-10

9 You visit the earth and water it,

You greatly enrich it;

The river of God is full of water;

You provide their grain,

For so You have prepared it.

10 You water its ridges abundantly,

You settle its furrows;

You make it soft with showers,

You bless its growth.

 

Moving to Zambia where the weather and rains were of constant conversation and concern was a new experience for us. Now, here we are in Sparta where the rich fields of corn, grain and soy stretch forever just 20 miles from the Mississippi. I know there have been times of drought, but America still seems to be a land blessed by God.

 

The admonition to obey God:

 

Deut 11:13-15

13'And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.'

Here is an interesting article about one man’s opinion about the future result of the election. It is entitled "How Obama Lost the Election"

 

Here is one excerpt:

 

In my February 26 profile, I called Obama "the political equivalent of a sociopath", without any derogatory intent. A sociopath seeks the empathy of all around him while empathizing with no one. Obama has an almost magical ability to gain the confidence of those around him. Perhaps it was the adaptation of a bright and sensitive young boy who was abandoned by three parents - his Kenyan father Barack Obama Sr, who left his pregnant young bride; his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetero; and by his mother, Ann Dunham, who sent 10-year-old Obama to live with her parents while she pursued her career as an anthropologist.

Combine a child's response to serial abandonment with the perspective of an outsider, and Obama became an alien species against which American politics had no natural defenses. He is a Third World anthropologist profiling Americans, in but not of the American system. No country's politics depends more openly on friendships than America's, yet Obama has not a single real friend, for he rose so fast that all his acquaintances become rungs on the ladder of his ascent. One human relationship crowds the others out of his life, his marriage to Michelle, a strong, assertive and very angry woman.

 

The other article is entiteled: Obama's Women Reveal His Secret". This was written on Feb. 28. Here is an excerpt:

 

 

We know less about Senator Obama than about any prospective president in American history. His uplifting rhetoric is empty, as Hillary Clinton helplessly protests. His career bears no trace of his own character, not an article for the Harvard Law Review he edited, or a single piece of legislation. He appears to be an empty vessel filled with the wishful thinking of those around him. But there is a real Barack Obama. No man - least of all one abandoned in infancy by his father - can conceal the imprint of an impassioned mother, or the influence of a brilliant wife.

 

 

I think it is universally agreed that this is going to be one interesting election. Obama had 38 million viewers last Thursday, Sarah had 37 million.

 

What do I think about Sarah?

Here is an insightful article about the impact the left’s attack upon Palin’s values because of her daughter’s pregnancy will have on the voting public. Here is an excerpt:

 

 

The Obama campaign may realize that their supporters are about to give John McCain the upper-hand but with the explosion of the internet they will be unable to stem the tide of a netroots community far too eager to expose the hypocrisy of one more wayward social conservative.

The Left on the internet and elsewhere will attack this mother of five for failing to live up to the code that she preaches. They will explain that this is proof that traditionalism doesn’t work. That the religious right is a fraud.  That the preaching of abstinence is a fool’s errand. They will explain all this thinking they have just laid down the trump card when all they have done is hand it to the opposition.

 

 

This aritcle by Clark Judge on Hugh Hewitt’s blog is a great piece that gives a sense of the two campaigns being run.

 

It is going to be a very interesting election and its getting more interesting all of the time.

We have been having Mark Salas preach for us this week. He was a golden glove boxer who eventually went pro. He came from the gangs of Albuquerque. He included some stories in his preaching but we got to hear a lot more about his life while talking with him. He mentioned Mike Tyson in the sermon. He was at a tournament along with Mike Tyson and spent the night before their bouts talking with each other. He said Mike was a good guy, shy and not sure if he was going to win. The next day in the tournament Mike won and was immediately ushered into another world. The hopes and money that surround a potential heavyweight champion dwarf the potential earnings of all of the other weight classes. He said the next time he saw Tyson, Tyson didn’t have the time to even say hello.

 

Mark, one of four brothers, described his fight to leave the gang after he started his Christian walk. You just don’t leave a gang. Just as you have to fight your way in you have to fight your way out. In his case it was a one on one fight with his gang’s leader. He described him as a solid wrestler type guy with a mean streak a mile long. But, Mark the boxer, though smaller, was able to punish him and avoid being grappled to the ground. This allowed him to leave the gang and walk with Jesus without their interference.