Many Americans have been wanting to know, "where is my share of the TARP (troubled asset relief program) funds? Why are hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost when so much taxpayer money is being thrown into the banking system benefiting so many large businesses? Where's it all going?" I have wondered much of the same thing.
I called the main corporate office of my bank the other day and asked one of the senior vice-presidents when they were depositing my percentage of the TARP monies they received into my account :-)? At first he wondered if I was joking. I assured him I wasn't. I gave him my income; asked how many customers my bank had; how much TARP money they received; and then divided those numbers and came up with what I thought was a fair percentage of TARP funds I was due... He wasn't amused; but he got the message. I greatly appreciated the sobriety that finally toned his remarks to me.
60 Minutes news correspondent, Steve Kroft, challenged President Obama about his actions and attitudes towards the current financial crisis in last night's interview when saying these razor sharp words to him (about 13:30 in):
The understatement of the year is: government is out of control. And despite a new administration, no one seems to be driving this run-a-way train and taking responsibility for its destination.
“You're sitting here. And you're— you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, ‘I mean, he's sitting there just making jokes about money—’ How do you deal with— I mean: explain. . .” Kroft asked at one point.
“Are you punch-drunk?” Kroft said.
But this should not surprise us. President Obama is becoming increasingly known for his gallows humor (where you and I are hurting; facing the death of our own financial futures, but he remains unfazed and immune.) He is unlike Clinton in that he really doesn't feel your pain nor is bothered by the fact that he is seen as such. He is not "cool" as some liberal pundits still affirm. He is cold; unmoved by the plight of those who are hurting today and left devastated by his own parties political actions (i.e. Frank and Dodd).
Example: the AIG bonuses were in the legislation Obama signed and Congress wrote. But yet, Obama and his appointees act as if they never knew of them before last week. So in the aftermath of declining approval ratings and escalating public concern, they successfully struck the match then fanned the flames of public outrage they created against these same AIG executives tapping into that age old emotion within societies underclassmen, "let's get someone in power." However, in the pedestrian world most of us live in everyday that dog just won't hunt. We know exactly what this tactic is: deflect responsibility from the immediate reality to a Rowlingesque fantasy claiming political amnesia all the while. It's the reason the Manchurian President goes on Leno and not Beck, Wallace, Hannity, Dobbs, Ingraham, or Limbaugh to schmooze the hoi palloi.That is why the following from Daily News contributor, Michael Goodwin, was so inspiring. I would encourage you to read the entire article.
To wet your appetite:“Missing in action is the Barack Obama who vowed to unite the country around common values. Lately he has been the very opposite of the man he promised. Instead of hope, many have a growing fear of the arrogant government he leads…
In truth, there is no history for what he is doing. He is the most radical President of our times, far outside the mainstream of our political philosophy…
He is not a reformer who fixes things. He fancies himself ‘transformative,’ a man who reshapes and reorders. It apparently begins with smashing the existing order under the pretext of managing the crisis he inherited."
29 comments:
Stan
I hope you're wrong my brother, but I fear you are right. This past election was not about change, but judgement; and God has given this nation a leader of our own demise.
God lets it all happen.
We wanted change...we are getting it.
"A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works." ~Bill Vaughan
The administration is attempting to redefine "patriotism." No longer is it love and devotion to your God and country, but love and devotion to a leader and a political party. If you're not on-board with the agenda, or aren't trying to get your "fair" share, you're viewed as un-American.
“Missing in action is the Barack Obama who vowed to unite the country around common values." Exactly! (The White House's creating a frenzy of class envy is obviously doing wonders in bringing unity and helping to pull us together as a nation).
theoldadam
BINGO!
littlegal
Great Vaughn quote. Thank you.
Obama is not oblivious - this is intentional. May the Lord grant His people grace during these days of uncertainty to keep focused on the proclamation of the gospel and the ministry we can each have in our own neighborhoods.
Warning: Rabbit trail alert.
Steve,
Why the t-shirt with Obama holding his crotch? Was that entirely necessary. I think it's a little ironic you'd use this picture in light of some of the things for which you've criticized our brother Mark Driscoll.
The only thing I can figure is that you didn't really notice what Obama was doing on that T-shirt?
Just thought I'd ask.
James Hunt
I didn't see it as him grabbing his crotch. His hand looked more like to me that he was just resting it on his suit coat near his stomach area.
I just blew the photo up and the hand is wide open as well. I could be wrong, but I didn't view it the way you inferred. I would have never posted if it was the imagery you said.
If it offends you I will be happy to take it down and replace it though.
Don't want to needlessly offend anyone here.
Thanks for having my back on this,
Steve
I was mistaken in thinking this was a blog for christians, sorry.
There is no way folks who are spewing such vitriol are praying for the president which was a commandment and not a suggestion the last time I reviewed the scripture. If I can see your hidden hate you are without cover before a holy God, and there will be an account for everything we say.
You should be praying that Obama will be open to the working of the holy spirit possibly through the charismatic minister who is running his faith-based initiative.
Didn't our last president tell CBN's David Brody he didn't take the Bible literally? There is absolutely no biblical virture in being either conservative or liberal. Stop fooling yourself.
James Hunt
Decided to change it. Here's the new one. Hope you like.
Steve
yankeeridge
I have posted some articles in the past asking the good people who frequent this blog to pray for President Obama. That is a command according to 1 Tim. 2:1-4.
However, confronting faulty policies while we are still a democratic republic is not violating Scripture. In fact, it is permissible according to the laws of this land which would be supported under Romans 13. We can challenge any of our leaders ideas legally and address them with veracity and respect. We can engage our elected officials as U.S citizens, as Christians, and do so from either a political or a biblical worldview.
I must say though my friend, what I do find most interesting is that you are willing to attack a brother in Christ here (or those who post as well) so sharply - judging my motives without showing any mercy or compassion whatsoever. Aren't I deserving of that same charity here you say I failed to demonstrate? But you did not do that. You chose to attack me - not my ideas.
I do thank you for posting... but may I encourage you in the future to engage on the substance of what is being written and discussed here and not simply vent. There are no drive-by comments allowed on this blog.
Grace and peace to you,
Steve
When the hyper-inflation caused by multiple trillion dollar bailouts begins driving food costs beyond the capability of many people to pay, then Mr. Obama won't be laughing and grinning. The riots and chaos in the streets will quickly make it a grimace.
I saw no vitriol in this post or the comments, except by those who are complaining about it. I think the comments were very good.
This nation wouldn't be in the situation it's now in if so many Christians wouldn't think it's un-Christian to engage their brains when it comes to politics.
They're happy to pull the lever for some politician who says what they want to hear and makes them feel good. But they don't want to be vigilant to do the homework in order to find out what these politicians really believe.
We are called to be good stewards of our families, our work and our churches, and to be vigilant. But I think that too many Christians have chosen not to be vigilant about watching over our politicians.
Granted it is hard work, but if Christians ignore politics and disengage, they'll do it to their own detriment, as we are seeing now.
I know that some Christians don't want any part of politics because they don't want it to make them angry all the time.
But we as Christians are simply being challenged to "put on love" and to not become angry at what we see going on in politics while we are actively participating in it. A lot of things in life can make us angry, but that's no excuse to ignore our governing authorities.
I, too, noticed that Christians are being targeted for their comments by Christians and non-Christians alike.
A tactic of the liberal Democrat playbook is to attack the character of the person who has an opposing point of view, rather than deal with the issue at hand.
And it's disturbing to see those who call themselves Christians employing the same tactic.
I wouldn't be surprised if the people who accuse Christians of being angry toward politicians, are the same people you would see at football games, screaming and yelling for their team to win, and throwing a fit if they lose.
But when it gets personal, and the real "football" is our freedom, they want you to shut up.
And, once again, it's disturbing to see those who call themselves Christians employing this tactic as well.
Because anyone who follows politics knows that we're about to lose that freedom...the freedom of speech.
yankeeridge wrote,
"There is absolutely no biblical virtue in being either conservative or liberal."
True, regarding Liberalism, which has become practically synonymous with ungodliness.
And not all Conservative principles are specifically biblical.
But you have to be Historically and Biblically ignorant to deny that general Conservative principles are based on biblical "virtues".
For example, the right-to-life anti-abortion platform is based on opposing the evil of murder.
Likewise most other "social" Conservative principles, such as opposition to homosexual marriage, and opposition to marriage penalty taxation are based on biblical "virtues".
Socialistic forced redistribution of wealth is opposed on the biblical virtue of "thou shalt not steal" [from the so-called rich to give to the so-called poor].
(Sidenote: *voluntary* giving to the poor is, of course, a biblical virtue, and not surprisingly, Conservatives are *hugely* bigger givers than Liberals.)
Limited [smaller] Government, another Conservative principle, is biblically based on the purpose for government as delineated in Romans 13, etc. (Liberals *unbiblically* favor Government-as-God, thereby making it larger and more powerful.)
It's a big mistake to think that the Bible doesn't bear on political thought, and it's sad when Christians who should know better are blind to the anti-Christ policies of Liberalism.
"He is not a reformer who fixes things. He fancies himself ‘transformative,’ a man who reshapes and reorders. It apparently begins with smashing the existing order under the pretext of managing the crisis he inherited.""
Is that Barak Obama Mr. Goodwin is talking about????? It sounds just like Rick Warren, America's pastor, eh?
The sad part of all this "madness" is for our children, and children's children.
It does seem to me that God has removed His hand, or strong arm that used to be here in this nation.
I listened to, and watched on webcast, an excellent sermon from RC Sproul last week on Isaiah 45:1-18.
Verse 1 says that the Lord has anointed Cyrus, and God's right arm has become his. Verse 7: "I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the Lord, who does all these things."
And the Lord says over and over that He is the Lord, and there is none other, there is no God beside Me.
I don't know for sure.
I do pray for our president to come to Christ, and that our Lord would open his heart to the truth. To convict him that to allow a baby born alive to die in a closet is an hateful sin, and barbaric. Amen.
Keep up the good posts Campi.
donsends
I do pray for our president to come to Christ, and that our Lord would open his heart to the truth.
Amen. Good word brother. God is in control and Sovereign even over the heads of state (Roms. 13:1-3). That is our hope and confidence during these very uncertain times in our nation.
Douglous
I think that Warren would be more circumspect with the economy at this point.
Terry
Well said.. Thank you!
But this should not surprise us. President Obama is becoming increasingly known for his gallows humor (where you and I are hurting; facing the death of our own financial futures, but he remains unfazed and immune.)
Puh-lease... give me a break. Laughing or gallows humor is rather a human emotion when facing the problems that he is facing as OUR president. I would cut him a lot of slack here, and especially when you see the rest of the followup in that interview where he clarified his response. Taking entirely out of context.
What we have in Obama is a man extremely confident in his own ability to handle the issues of the day and to be nuanced in his approach to extremely complicated issues, to be deliberate in his approach to both economical and geopolitical problems we are facing. A 180 degree turn from the previous occupier of that office... I mean, "Bring it on" and all that vitriol and cowboy diplomacy.
I think he is doing just fine and any criticism of him, from both the right AND the left (Paul Krugman for one at the NYT) just keeps him honest. Is he perfect in that regard? No. But who was save for Christ himself.
"What we have in Obama is a man extremely confident in his own ability to handle the issues of the day and to be nuanced in his approach to extremely complicated issues"
That's a scary thought. It doesn't really say much, but what it does say is scary.
Obama was not much a Senator. before that he wasn't really into much at all. He's a man who is polished, and who is dishonest. He is a very good politician, which means everything he does is about being elected, and staying elected.
He is a socialist, and he is pro-infanticide, not to mention he wants to make abortion a legal kill that can not be touched.
Obama needs the Lord. I pray for him and his family to come to Christ for the forgiveness of sin. I pray the mercy of God our Savior would find Barak's heart as it found mine and took away the stoniness and gave me a heart of flesh.
roadwolf
Thank you for your comment.
Obama does need our prayers and I hope we are all doing that daily for all of our elected officials. These are not easy days in our nation and our leaders need wisdom and courage to know the right thing to do and then to do it.
but don't you think that this kind of dialogue among us everyday citizens - especially from a biblical worldview is important? I think so. I learn from others here daily and you all stretch my view of things as well.
It is also important to be informed as citizens so that we can make valued decisions when it comes to our voting and participation in the electoral process. In addition, it is a way to love our neighbor when we are working toward that which benefits the common good of all people without violating Scripture and when upholding biblical foundations for family and the citizenry within the marketplace.
Obama should have a more circumspect comportment as President when speaking on behalf of the Congress or addressing the American people including other nations as well.
I hope tonight's national press conference reveals some political wisdom on some of these pressing issues. A small indicator of that occurring is last week he was all in favor of taxing 90% of the bonuses of AIG executives. Today he has flip-flopped for the better saying that this would be unconstitutional of congress to do so.
Thanks again roadwolf...
Steve
Steve,
Well done, brother. I figured you must have overlooked the original photo's indiscretion.
Many blessings to you,
James
Looks like the Obama Youth movement will be created as soon as Obama signs the GIVE Act. Christian youth will be forced to advance Obama's radical Leftist Totalitarian agenda and may even be prevented from attending church.
Blue Collar Todd,
That's a frightening thing, isn't it? The GIVE act will steal our children right out from underneath us. But then, it should be easy, since they have already been numbed by endless emergent lies wrapped in cultural relevance, AKA, "church youth group".
It is URGENT that we, as God fearing people, pray, pray and pray for our kids, and feed them a steady diet of the pure, unadulterated Word of God.
LORD - help us!!
Maranatha.
Blue Collar Todd
This doesn't surprise me.
The issue on this "act" is that when using taxpayer funding for any program, that one of the things that is restricted is the freedom of religion because of it infringing upon others "rights" within society. IOW, humanitarianism must be divorced from the gospel - they create "a plastic Jesus" if you please.
What is so duplicitous, is that the liberals preach their own gospel which infringes upon others peoples rights (i.e. abortion); but because their agenda is politically acceptable - they don't see it as being a conflict.
We are slowly becoming a nation that is not governed by constitutionality, but by political preference. This is not what the Founders designed or wanted.
Oh how we need reformation and revival once again to sweep through this nation... Amen?.
Oh how we need reformation and revival once again to sweep through this nation... Amen?.
Amen to that. What is troubling to me is that Christians will be coerced into advancing an agenda that stands in total antithesis to biblical Christianity. Granted, many are already deceived by Liberal Theology and are doing it freely.
Why is that former Marxists could see that Christianity and Marxism/Liberalism is incompatible with Christianity, but Christians today cannot see that? Trouble ahead for sure, but my passion is to get the faithful remnant, if I can use that idea, to focus like a laser on Jesus Christ, the exclusive Savior of mankind and the only Lord we ought to obey.
@Cyd,
Amen to that as well. I moved out to California from Montana to go to Seminary, and now my family seems to be "stuck" here for whatever reason God has. This is an interested time to be alive because I think American Christians are going to have to start to make choices that could have serious consequences given all the Hope and Change that is coming.
Thanks, Blue Collar Todd for the information. Apparently, community service has been given a new name...again: the GIVE Act:
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/03/the-generations-invigorating-v.shtml
Here are some related links:
See what Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said and see the video:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80829
See Integrate Service into Learning:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/service/
See Civilian National Security Force:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80298
A quote from this article (in World Net Daily):
Investor's Business Daily:
"Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded re-education camps where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of 'social change.'"
Michele
Interesting quote from Investor's Business Daily. What turmoil our nation is in because our beloved political leaders operate under the tyranny of the urgent rather than the liberty of constitutional mandate and historical precedence.
Good post. Thank you.
Obama isn't complicated at all, he's simply a classic narcissist. All his actions and reactions are driven by his complete self-absorption and therefore he's as predictable as a clock.
Please understand that this observation is in no way meant to be gratuitous ad hominem, it's just reality.
If you're the daring type who's up for a really good scare, then conduct a little research on those narcissists who gain positions of national leadership. Go ahead, look it up...
Maranatha Lord Jesus!
In Him,
CD
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