Bailing Out Planned Parenthood

Excerpted from LifeSite News:

The so-called economic stimulus bill the Senate approved on Tuesday contains a bailout package for Planned Parenthood that will give the abortion giant hundreds of millions of dollars to promote birth control. President Barack Obama is soon expected to sign the bill into law.

Specifically, a provision buried deep in the legislation clears the way for expanded federal funding of contraceptives through Medicaid for those who aren't even poor.

A Clinton-era program allows states to seek a waiver to offer Medicaid "family planning" services - including people who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. If they seek the waiver, the federal government matches the state funding with $9 for every $1.

Naturally, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards was elated by the news. "We finally did it. It wasn't easy, but after two long years of working with Congress, I'm happy to report [the provision was included]," Richards told supporters in an email.

[...] The House included the Planned Parenthood bailout in its version of the spending bill, but Obama had to instruct House Democrats to remove the provision because it engendered so much opposition it threatened to derail the bill.

Senate Democrats snuck the provision back in the measure they have sent to Obama and with the Senate having a more pro-abortion makeup, the provision remained in the legislation without much of a fight.

As a result, all 50 states will now offer Medicaid "family planning" services (including contraception) with the federal government offering the same $9 to $1 match. Although the money doesn't fund abortions directly, it goes to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, which would otherwise have to spend its own money on contraception.

[...] White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said after the hubhub about the provision in the House bill, "While [Obama] agrees that greater access to family planning is good policy, the president believes that the funding for it does not belong in the economic recovery and
reinvestment plan."

However, that will not likely prevent him from signing the Senate-passed spending bill anyway.

The House debate on the provision also contained an interesting moment which saw House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defending the provision and appearing to indicate she thought children were a
burden to the economy.

"Well, the family-planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost," she said on ABC.

This may sound strange, but as time wears on, I become more and more convinced that the culture wars in America are true spiritual battles being waged on a far larger playing field than mets the eye. The big culture issues - acceptance of abortion, homosexual behavior, contraception, and euthanasia - are all really nothing more than methods of giving the finger to God. Something far larger and nastier than Barack Obama (blessed be He!), Nancy Pelosi, Planned Parenthood, or the North American Man - Boy Love Association is driving all this.

I suppose I've always known that, at least since I woke up from the Seventies, but it just seems more and more blatant. As things spin more and more out of control, and the center fails, it seems like whatever veneer of politeness and logic that once coated the agenda is getting stripped away and That-Which-Lies-Beneath gets more and more visible.

It's hard for me to believe I even talk like this. I'm trained in the sciences; I spent half my lif in a research lab. I'm by nature a "touch it, taste it, smell it, hear it, feel it or it's not really there" sort of guy. I don't watch Ghost Hunters on the SciFi Channel; I think alien abductees probably have a really bad sleep disorder; I think their "implants" are what - when I was a kid- we used to refer to as "splinters." I might have been willing to believe in UFOs in the early 50's, but not after 60 years of "now you see it, now you don't." And I believe that the house down the street with the spooky windows and the gargoyles is just a house with some bad decorators. It may have scorpions or field mice, but it doesn't have ghosts, ghouls, or chupacabras.

But it's gotten to the point where something is tangible; you can feel it. Some thing is abroad in the land, and it is nasty, dirty, and creepy. I wonder if it felt like this in Babylon.

Signs of the Times

From MyWay.com, passed along without further comment:

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - Montgomery County police say 16 people were arrested after a fight broke out during a concert held to promote nonviolence and to remember a Silver Spring teen killed last year.

The free Stop the Violence youth concert was held Saturday night on Ellsworth Street in downtown Silver Spring in memory of 14-year-old Montgomery Blair High School student Tai Lam, who was shot to death in November.

Police say fighting broke out near the stage toward the end of the concert and at least one person resisted arrest.

Police say 16 adults and juveniles were arrested for offenses such as assault and disorderly conduct.

Stimulating the Economy

Immediately after the election, I ordered a thousand rounds of 9mm full-metal-jacket for practice ammunition. I got an email this morning telling me it would ship today. That's not quite four months on back order.

I don't expect Obama's policies to do a lot for the economy in general, but he seems to have done wonders for the gun and ammo business.

Texas Independence Day - One Day late

Evil, nasty little streptococci prevented me from posting yeaterday, so I am commemerating the event today with Travis's letter from the Alamo:

To The People of Texas andAll Americans In The World --February 24, 1836

Fellow citizens & compatriots -- I am beseiged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna -- I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man -- The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken -- I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls -- I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch -- The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country --
VICTORY OR DEATH
William Barret TravisLt. Col. Comdt.

P.S. The Lord is on our side -- When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn -- We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves --

God bless Texas, as we look forward with hope to the next revolution. May it be soon, swift, and successful.