President Bush agrees to "The Final Status Plan"

Israel, our closest ally, our sister democracy, is being sold out by the United States and by President George Bush. George Bush is in Israel right now laying the ground work for "The Final Status Plan". Dr. Michael D. Evans reports, "The Plan" calls for Palestine to be a state within one year, with East Jerusalem as the capital. This "Final Status Plan" calls for vigorous, unceasing, aggressive negotiations that would end in the creation of a two-state region by the end of 2008."

Bush wants to accomplish this before he leaves office. He has been working feverishly toward this end at the Annapolis Summit and now in Israel. While at the Annapolis Summit, President Bush agreed in what is called "The Final Status Plan" to divide Jerusalem before the end of his term. He has also demanded that Israel halt construction in the settlements for refugees. The plan is to turn those settlements over to the PLO. This is an absolute outrage.

What could our Christian President possibly be thinking? Some think that President Bush believes the Palestinian cause is the root of Islamic hatred for America. They suggest that Bush's advisors are telling him that this agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will affect his legacy in a positive way. How wrong can they be??? Why is George W. Bush so consumed by his legacy that he would sacrifice Jerusalem and hundreds of thousands of innocent Jews to attain his goal? Israel would have to give up the Temple Mount, the Western Wall in East Jerusalem and evacuate most of the strategic West Bank which would leave it vulnerable to rocket attacks in Tel Aviv and at its international airport. I am appalled that it appears that President Bush believes the Palestinian cause is the root of Islamic hatred for America.

HISTORY
The Annapolis Peace Summit, which took place last summer, was the first international peace conference since the U.S. organized the Madrid Peace Summit at the end of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The Madrid Summit destroyed the economy of Israel and caused the overthrow of the the Israeli government. Furthermore, we [the U.S.] froze $10 billion in loan guarantees to Israel resulting in tens of thousands of destitute Russian Jewish immigrants being forced to sleep in tents because of a lack of housing. Also, as a result of the Madrid Summit, Israel was ultimately forced to give up more that 80 villages and towns, including Jericho, Hebron, and Bethlehem. Bethlehem!!! [Bethlehem has continued to be under Muslim control ever since.] With friends like the U.S. who needs enemies? For an encore we are forging ahead with "The Final Status Plan".

The U.S. is not the only nation in favor of "The Final Status Plan". Saudi Arabia the UN, the EU, Russia, China, and the Arab League also favor "The Plan". Saudi Arabia and the Arab League invented the original plan, The Road Map to Peace [see my first ever blog]. The Road Map was designed to force Israel to the bargaining table. Ariel Sharon had asked for 14 amendments to the Road Map which Secretary of State Colin Powell flatly refused. Phase Two of the Road Map was to be the dismantling of all terror organizations and their infrastructures. HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade and others would have been forced to turn over all illegal weapons and stop terror incitement. Phase Two was never implemented by Abbas. Quite the opposite occurred: HAMAS took over Gaza: Abbas' own terror organization, Fatah and al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade continue to kill Jews.

ITS TIME TO ACT:
President Clinton attempted to divide Jerusalem in January 2001, before the end of his term of office. He almost succeeded. Now President Bush is pushing a plan to divide Jerusalem and relinquish the Temple Mount, Christian holy sites and half of the old city. The UN, EU, Russia, China, Arab League have united with the U.S. and are in favor of "The Final Status Plan". We must do everything in our power in prayer and action to stop this. If we are a party to this plan, which we [the U.S] certainly are, we will reap God's judgment. Joel 3:2 states, "I will gather all nations . . . there I will enter into judgment against them concerning My inheritance, My people Israel, for they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land." Jerusalem has certainly become a "cup of trembling".
PRAY:
Pray that the U.S. has nothing to do with the plan to divide Israel and Jerusalem. Ask God for mercy and to spare you and your family from His judgment if the U.S. continues to be a party the plan to divide Jerusalem and Israel.
TAKE ACTION
*Call the Presidential Comment Line: 202.456.111
*Tell President Bush that the plan he is pursuing will lead to judgment for him and the United States.
*Ask him to withdraw his support for "The Final Status Plan".
*Tell him that backing "The Plan" will not gain the U.S. favor with the terrorist nations but will backfire and unify radical Islam against Israel and the United States.

And by the way, Shalom~

Social Security Preservation Act H.R. 219

Almost everyday I get something in the mail regarding saving Social Security, most of the mailings are from organizations that I am not familiar with. Today I got something from Traditional Values Coalition. I trust them as a reliable source of information and therefore I will relate to you their facts about Social Security and the Social Security Trust Fund.

You may remember that when Al Gore was running for President he wanted to put the Social Security Trust Fund in a "locked box". That sounded like a good idea to me then and it still sounds like a good idea. The problem is that there are people who say that there is no trust fund only a bunch of IOUs. If they are right the locked box would be empty. Others say there is a trust fund but it will be out of money in 2009, and others in 2017. Most young people believe that there won't be any Social Security for them. That does not have to be so, but read on.

The Washington Post reports that there is a Social Security surplus, but that Congress spends it every year and that in four years we will have a budgetary squeeze that will require new taxation or new borrowing.

In a different article the Washington Post says there is in reality a trust fund but in "this year alone [2008], the government will take in nearly $173 billion in payroll taxes that it will spend on programs other than Social Security. [Perhaps the war in Iraq.] [Other sources state $186 BILLION.]

For those dollars borrowed from Social Security taxes, the Social Security Administration receives Treasury bonds equal in value plus interest. When Social Security benefits surpass Social Security taxes, between 2018 and 2020, the Social Security Administration will begin redeeming those trust fund assets, which will peak at nearly $6.6 trillion.

Once redemption begins, future administrations will have to make good on their IOUs, or risk a potentially destabilizing default on U.S. sovereign debt.

To redeem those bonds, the government will have three choices: raise taxes, cut spending or borrow more money."

All this information is very troubling. The primary problem is Congressional spending. Why does Congress spend Social Security money on other programs? When the Social Security laws were written were there no safeguards or guidelines for spending the money collected and limiting there use to the purpose for which they were collected -- Social Security Benefits? Evidently not.

Traditional Values Coalition reports that Congress has been raiding the Social Security Trust Fund for personal political self-interest for 20 years. TWENTY YEARS! They report ". . . many Americans don't know our politicians have already taken and spent a whopping $2.071 TRILLION from the Social Security Trust Fund . . ."

Both my husband and I receive Social Security Benefits. When I hear candidates say they want to revamp the Social Security benefits, scale them down, to balance the budget by reducing benefits, a shiver goes down my back. If you are not at retirement age yet, let me tell you, when you are at retirement age you will need every benefit you ever thought of having.

When you hit 65, you will have to start paying around $100.00 a month for Medicare Part B (Part A is free)and you will also need to start paying for Part D, your drug coverage. That $100.00 for Part B is deducted from your Social Security check. Right now, there is a huge doughnut hole in the Medicare Benefits. Under the standard plan the government picks up the bulk of drug costs only until the beneficiary and the government together have spent $2,250 for the year. At that point, you enter the doughnut hole where you must pay 100 percent of the cost of your medication. When you have spent a total of $3,600 of your own money (That's $7,200 for a couple over 65.), you reach the other side of the doughnut. Then the federal subsidy resumes, paying 95 percent of any additional expenses. The doughnut hole is a tremendous problem for seniors 65 and over. In fact, it spells financial disaster for many seniors. Some seniors could have to spend all the money they get from Social Security on medication alone.

Cutting the Social Security Benefits to balance the budget is NOT a good idea. Lowering Social Security Benefits or eliminating them altogether would bankrupt many seniors.

We don't have to stand by and wring our hands. There is something we can do. There is legislation that has been introduced that would prohibit politicians in Washington from taking our Social Security savings out of the Social Security Trust Fund and spending it on their pet special interest programs. It is called The Social Security Preservation Act (H.R. 219). Traditional Values Coalition reports that ". . . passing H.R. 219 would immediately stop Washington Politicians from robbing the money hard-working taxpayers have contributed to their Social Security retirement, and would:
*Create enough surplus funds to pay all Social security benefits for
many, many decades to come.
*Keep politicians from cutting present Social Security benefits, and
*Stop politicians from raising our taxes."
*require 100% of our Trust Fund money be saved.

Why haven't we heard about this before and why hasn't Congress passed this bill into law? It appears that our elected officials care more about their own reelection and their own welfare than the welfare of their constituents. TVA says, "Politicians are keeping their mouths shut about their shameful and reckless waste of money that is supposed to be SAVED in the Social Security Trust Fund. Instead, they are scaring the present and future retirees with talks of benefit cuts and tax hikes, rather than cutting themselves off from raiding the Social Security Trust Fund "till."'

"Government Officials want to reserve the Social Security Trust Fund savings for "special interest" spending projects as favors to those who will help them get reelected. So far they've spent $2.071 TRILLION of our Social Security Trust Fund money for projects like:
*a $50 million indoor rainforest in Ohio
*$223 million for a "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska
*$800,000 for an outhouse"

Our politicians don't want us to know that they are squandering the Social Security Trust Fund and putting the "golden years" of a majority of Americans in jeopardy. It is scandalous and immoral for politicians to be squandering our Social Security Trust Fund money. We must make them stop. We need a great grassroots movement to do so. What Can You Do?

PRAY
Pray for the passage of HR 219, The Social Security Preservation Act.
TAKE ACTION
Call your Representative and urge him/her to vote for HR 219.
Washington Switchboard: 202.224.3121
If you don't know who your Representative is, tell the operator your zip code and she/he will connect you with your Representative's office.

Tell your friends and neighbors about HR 219.
Ask them to pray for HR 219 to pass into law.
Ask them to call their Representatives.

We can and we must preserve Social Security.
Shalom~

Stem Cell Research

FRC has an update on the pluripotent stem cells made from skin cells that make embyronic skin cells obsolete. The argument given to congressional Representatives is that only pluripotent stem cells work on all types of cells and therefore, pluripotent stem cells are the only stem cells worthy of research. Until now, the only cells that were pluripotent were Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC). In actuality, you can get stem cells that will treat similar cells in the body from a wide variety of different sources in the body. The entire body is covered from the many sources of adult stem cell. With iPS (Skin Stem Cells) the argument for ESC research is more of a mote point than ever. Representatives can now funnel money into iPS research and abandon giving money to those who are doing ESC research.

It is sad that some research scientists still want to continue research on ESC. You will find FRC's article timely and informative.

"iPS Success: Hardly Skin Deep
From the looks of it, 2008 is shaping up to be the year of the stem cell. The news that researchers had developed embryonic-type stem cells from ordinary skin cells is still sending tremors through the scientific and political communities.

In the brief two months since the announcement, the success with induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has been replicated by three research teams. One such group, comprised of scientists from Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, managed to extract skin cells from a volunteer rather than relying on commercial laboratories to grow the cells. Elsewhere, a new technology developed by Columbia's Osiris Therapeutics is putting the finishing touches on Prochymal, a drug created from adult stem cells that may soon treat everything from gastrointestinal disorders to heart attacks.

Yet despite this surge of principled progress, some embryonic stem cell (ESC) supporters are still clinging to a method that may soon be obsolete [Certainly immoral]*. California's Institute of Regenerative Medicine easily houses the greatest number of these scientific holdouts, including President Richard Murphy. Although many of his colleagues are abandoning the ESC approach in favor of iPS, Murphy says, "We still think human embryonic stem cells are the gold standard."

Before making such statements, perhaps Dr. Murphy should have read a copy of FRC's new Insight paper, "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories--2007." Authored by our own Dr. David Prentice, Bill Saunders, and Michael Fragoso, "Success Stories" catalogues the medical treatments using ethical alternatives that appeared in scientific literature throughout 2007. The scoreboard count of such successes is now 73, while successful embryonic stem cell treatments continue to hold steady at--zero.

Additional Resources Adult Stem Cell Success Stories-2007 Update "

*[my comment]

Pray for the acceptance of the iPS cells in the scientific community. Pray that government officials will stop funding ESC research and will funnel money in to iPS research. Pray for the success of iPS based medication to cure a great number of diseases.

Shalom~~