"Obamacare Slammed by 'Cruz' Missile"

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) gave one of the world's longest speeches this week--21 hours and 19 minutes--supporting the defunding of Obamacare.

Known as a 'filibuster', the overnight talkathon did more than just put Cruz on the radar, it forced the MSM (mainstream media) to discuss the train wreck that is Obamacare.

Contrary to what we've been told, the Affordable Care Act (nicknamed 'Obamacare') is anything but.

Promised savings per family? $2500.00

Actual projected cost increase per family of four per year: $7450.00 (according to the Medicare actuaries).

If Obamacare is so great, how come everyone (and his brother) is trying to opt out?

"The Obama administration's decision to exempt members of Congress and their staffs from participating in Obamacare is fundamentally unfair," says former Education Secretary William Bennett. "Regardless of whether or not they support Obamacare, members of Congress should refuse the special exemption," Bennett said. "The law they enacted should apply to them."

Republican Senator Rand Paul intends to introduce a constitutional amendment that would force all federal employees onto Obamacare.

"I support any effort to make all laws applicable to Congress that we pass," Paul said. "The president wants 100% Obamacare, we want zero. Maybe we make it less bad through a compromise."

Compromise? What a novel idea. This bill has no Republican backing. Not even one Republican voted for it. Not one Republican helped write it.

What's wrong with that, you ask?

Where's the checks-and-balances? We have a 2 party system but only 1 party was invited to the Obamacare dance. Last time we checked it still took 2 to tango. Too bad for us the Republicans (for the most part) are too whimpy to stand up for the folks.

On board or not, the Obamacare train wreck is scheduled to hit the tracks October 1st.

A wise man once said: "I hope to 'stand firm' enough to not go backward, and yet not go forward fast enough to wreck the country's cause." -- Abraham Lincoln

"But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything, everywhere."  -- Philippians 3:20,21

News:

• DEBKAfile: Iran calls on international community to demand nuclear disarmament of Israel; while Syria claims they have weapons able to "blind" Israel.
• Washington Free Beacon: Russia, China hold large-scale war games; NATO to conduct large-scale maneuvers designed to counter growing concerns of a westward Russian military
• Fox News: 300+ companies report widespread cuts because of Obamacare

"Drone Strikes on American Soil?"

President Barack Obama has the authority to use an unmanned drone strike to kill U.S. citizens on American soil. No trial. No jury. No judge.

Don't believe it? Ask his Attorney General, Eric Holder. "The President could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland," Holder said. "It's legal and justified in an extraordinary circumstance," he added. (He later excluded "non-combatants" after embarrassing public scrutiny).

So far, only three U.S. citizens have been killed using drones, and they were all in Yemen and suspected terrorists. Our point is not that the government is going to start droning law-abiding citizens and we're not crying over dead terrorists. Our point is this: Why does this administration keep trying to sneak end-runs around the Constitution?

Some see the constantly-widening powers being claimed by the Executive branch as a threat to civil liberties. What happened to our constitutional due process rights?

A leaked Justice Department memo last month was an alarming wake-up call. It set out the legal framework under which the Executive branch can order the targeted killing of a U.S. citizen outside a battleground area.
Many experts agree the reasoning in this memo was so broad and so vague it virtually gave our government unchecked powers to kill.

According to the white paper (a white paper is an authoritative report or guide to help readers understand an issue): "The government has the authority to carry out targeted killings of U.S. citizens without presenting evidence to a judge before the fact or after, and indeed without even acknowledging to the courts or to the public that the authority has been exercised. Without saying so explicitly, the government claims the authority to kill American terrorism suspects in secret."

Eric Holder emphasized that it is unlikely that they would ever use this authority. "The U.S. government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so," he said. "As a policy matter, moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat."

But...Holder reserved the right to use drones if deemed necessary.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY., blasted the White House policy as "more than frightening, it is an affront on the constitutional due process rights of all Americans."

We find this latest power grab the most disturbing of all. It's both secretive and suspicious, just like the NDDA Act which allows for the indefinite military detention, without trial, of American citizens. Of course, the President promised he would never actually use that law either.

So why have them? Maybe Obama wouldn't use them, but who knows what the next president might do--or the one after that.

If we, the people, don't safe-guard our constitutional rights while we still have them, they will erode and disappear before our very eyes.

A wise man once said: "...I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people, by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations." --James Madison

"Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun" (Psalm 37:5-6).

News:

• Fox News Channel: U.S. sends an additional 250 million dollars to Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood amid U.S. military cuts.
• NBC News: North Korea threat of nuclear attack against U.S. not easily dismissed.
• BBC: UN officials say "Syria is spiraling towards full-scale disaster with 1 million refugees and 90,000 dead.