No More Nativity Scenes in Santa Monica

The United States District Court has upheld the right of a dedicated group of non-Christians not to look at Nativity scenes along Palisades Park. The rights of "everyone else" apparently means very little to our federal judiciary.

Santa Monica’s “Rent Control Board” is bad enough. Now the city is imposing “thought control” or “belief buffering” as well. Baby Jesus is no longer welcome in Palisades Park. In Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph at least found a stable with a manger, cows lowing and the stars shining. There will be no "Happy Hanukah" either, since one interest does not care if a "Big Miracle Happened There". I supposed the next step will be to remove the United States Constitution from our schools, too.

This ruling is not a win for “Freedom of Religion”, but a desperate attempt by the “Freedom from Religion Foundation” to impose their irreligious views and irrational legal findings on the rest of Santa Monica, as well as visitors who for nearly half a century enjoyed the festive displays during holiday season. Do they want to ban Christmas trees, next? Or perhaps anyone named “Christopher” from the confines of the city limits, too? Maybe a group of dedicated Buddhists should protest and demand the dismantling of the Ferris Wheel on Santa Monica Pier, since the carnival ride has an eerie resemblance to their faith’s prayer wheel.

Instead of “Occupy Wall Street”, perhaps a holiday version of “Occupy Lincoln Blvd.” is in order, complete with crèches,Christmas carols, and an outspoken desire to wish peace on earth and good will to all men. Then again, a coalition called “Freedom from Peace and Good Will” may turn up and file suit.

Bah, Humbug!

About the David Cohn Controversy

The people in a community have a right to expect upright behavior from their elected officials. Hermosa Beach City Treasurer David Cohn’s questionable liaison with an unlicensed masseuse has rubbed city leaders and residents the wrong way, and for good reason.

Why a Beach Cities official would connect with an unknown through Craigslist in South Eastern Los Angeles County can only elicit a sentiment of illicit conduct. Every elected official must bear out his private life with impeccable integrity, serving above reproach. When fulfilling a political office, a man does not give up his private life, but the life he leads behind closed doors must not reflect poorly on his capacities to lead, govern, or represent those who have charged him with serious considerations for the city. For some offenses, a man can make amends and remain in office. In Cohn’s case, it would be best for him to step down, just as General and CIA Director David Petraus resigned amicably from office for the good of the country.

On another note, we should not damn individuals who run for office who have had a troubled past, but by their present attitude and record of achievement demonstrate more than redeeming qualities. By all means, let us hold our public officials accountable for their present actions, since their character and their conduct convey an improper image about their communities . However, let us not continue to condemn individuals who have repented, repaired, and seek to represent community interests in the future.

Stop Praying for God to Improve Your Flesh

How many of us pray for God to give us good feelings?

How many of us pray that God will remove painful memories or remove difficult people from our lives?

James responds to the reason why these prayers do not get "answered":

"2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." (James 4: 2-3)

If we are praying for God to grant us peace, we are asking for something that He has already given us:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Every believer has the Holy Spirit::

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14: 17)

and

"22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5: 22-24)

"Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts," Paul writes, for our flesh, the realm of our fallen body and mind are consumed with ourselves. If we are living a life to improve the sense and sentimentality of our bodies, Paul describes the ensuing bondage which will unfold:

"14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." (Romans 7: 14-20)

I. . .I. . .I the more that we dwell on ourselves, how we feel, what we want, the more disgruntled we become, in large part because we are neglecting to notice the good things which Christ Jesus has given to us:

" 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

Stop praying for God to improve your thoughts and feelings. Stop asking God to believe for you:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)   and   "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. " (John 14: 1)   Also:   "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. . . Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4: 1, 11)

Jesus does not want us to walk by sight, including our feelings, but to walk by faith in the Spirit, for in the realm of our Spirit God lives and moves and has His being.

Paul comforts and counsels all of us:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-4)

Do not pray for no obstacles, enemies, or gratification for your senses -- that's just not good enough.

Pray these prayers:

"Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you." (Romans 1: 10)

and

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1: 17-18)

and

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. " (Ephesians 3:16-19)

and even

"6That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. 7For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother." (Philemon 6)

Pray for God to show you more of Himself, and you will be less bothered about yourself, and He will in turn bless you beyond what you can ask or think.

Faith: Far More than Feeling

Many believers still live in the realm of the five senses.

God does not want us to live there. In fact, much of the time, our feelings are informed by what we are thinking, and nothing more.

Paul advises believers to reckon themselves "dead" in their bodies, but alive in Christ. He was not making a plea for "Christian Science" error which claims that the body is not real, and the world is just an evil manifestation of nothing but deception. We do not live in response to our feelings, but rather in response to God's Word, which transforms our mind to walk by faith, not by sight.

For too long, I judged God's love for me based on feelings. If I did not feely "tingly" all over. When the "feeling" was gone, I "felt" that God did not love me, or that I was all alone.

We do not  judge God's love for us based on our feelings or our circumstances, but based on the Cross, and the blood that speaks better things than the blood of Abel.

God's love is based on the Truth, the Truth which sets us free, which our minds are renewed to receive, which ours senses are discerned to submit to.

Righteousness is a gift,  along with grace, the unmerited favor of God which looks past our failings to fill us with His Spirit.

This verse has communicated more to me than I would have ever imagined:

"11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 11)

Too many believers, myself included, haved lived this life trying to control our feelings, keep our emotions in check. The Christian life is "Christ" and "I Am Nothing." We identity with Him, not with ourselves, not with our feelings.

Wow -- this lesson has taken a great deal of time. The solution is to look at Jesus Christ:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. " (2 Corinthians 3: 18)

We must also believe in His love, regardless of how we feel:

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

Paul prayed for the Ephesians believers, and for all of us, that we would seek a greater revelation of God's love. This love is not a feeling, nor an action that we commit, but the Work that Christ Jesus has accomplished at the Cross (1 John 4: 10)

This love is perfected in us, in that God the Father sees us in His own Son:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

We rest in this truth based on God's Word, and our thoughts and feelings will catch up.

RNL's "Contract to Provide Local Justice"

RLN’s Publisher James Preston Allen is complaining about the closure of ten area courthouses. Frankly, this state could do without the excessive litigation. Still, his outrage is legitimate, since the Leaders of Los Angeles “promised” a courthouse, along with police, fire, and water. Nevertheless, I divine that the departed spirits of “anti-consolidation” San Pedro residents are now howling: “Told ya so!”

Los Angeles then and now has not kept its promises to Harbor area residents, but “business as usual” corruption which dominated the vote and the 1909 “consolidation” of San Pedro and Wilmington still lingers to this day. The City of (Fallen?) Angeles is having a hard time keeping other promises, too, like funding and furnishing pensions and benefits for the public workers and a balanced budget based on sound fiscal policies for everyone else. Entitlements and spending have reached unsustainable levels, yet even former Mayor Richard Riordian could not press his fellow Angelenos to adopt his plan so to grant their city a ghost of a chance of recovering.

On a related note, the very interest that RNL proudly paraded on its front covers, the “historic labor struggle”, is another major reason for the massive closures all over the state. Unions intimidate legislators, like the felonious state senator Roderick Wright, to spend money we do not have to protect collective bargaining units who misrepresent our public workers, deplete our state, coffers, and even put our students in danger. Of course, “anti-consolidation”souls resisted joining Los Angeles also because of the “inferior LA schools.”

I commend Mr. Allen’s proposed reforms to get the state back on track. “Three Strikes” has already been amended. Decriminalization of controlled substances would be a welcome improvement, which would all but guarantee a reduction of crime and criminal cases in our county jails. Decentralizing the court system would be great, too.

Surprisingly enough, Mr. Allen appears to have “seen the light” about damaging progressive polices and is advocating the proposed reforms of free-market economists. There is hope for the Harbor Area, after all! All the hallowed souls of San Pedro, dead and alive, shout: “Amen!”

A Blurb on Union Power

SEIU dispatches disinterested protesters to Wal-Mart and LAX. The baker’s union burned their own bread by forcing Hostess Brand into bankruptcy, taking down the Golden Twinkie that paid their entitlements. Teachers unions protect perverts to keep their perks. Now collective action is blocking the nation’s largest port yet again. From public sector unions in Sacramento to the ILWU in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the state of California is under siege from union power.  Pensions and benefits for public sector workers have reached crippling, unsustainable levels, breaking the bank of California, with two-thirds of the legislature bought by these special interests. Union strikes are an immoral show of force hurting workers, consumers, and the state. To paraphrase Calvin Coolidge: “There is no right to strike against the public interest by anybody, anywhere, any time.” California must break the unions, free the markets, and enact comprehensive pension reform.

Open Letter to Patty Murray and Washington State Voters

Patty Murray

On November 11, 2012, two senators joined together to engage in a collegial discussion with George Stephanopoulos on "This Week." Senator Patty Murray appeared glib and accommodating while sharing the screen with Republican counterpart Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, who stated his core principles without launching into castigating attacks.

The topic of discussion, the fiscal cliff, has brought the country and the government to the precipice of the deepening fiscal problems assaulting this country. The "fiscal cliff" came about following Congress' repeated failure to outline comprehensive entitlement reform and spending reductions in the wake of the 2011 debt ceiling "crisis". Because six Congressmen and six Senators could not agree on a proper program of austerity, Washington leaders instituted a massive sequester, along with the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, on January 1, 2013 should Congress reconsider and refuse once again to enact major budget reforms.

The two senators who normally do not grace the mainstream media screen for any particular reason came out of the depths of the upper chamber to report on the need for "bipartisanship" and compromise. Senator Murray wanted more revenue. Senator Chambliss demanded that Congress tackle the entitlement burden which is hurting this country and setting the nation on the same crash course that is bankrupting Greece.

Senator Murray's last remark on the program suggested that she was not opposed to letting the country go over the "fiscal cliff" if the final brokered compromise did not include tax increases on the rich so that they "pay their fair share." Chambliss rebuffed the notion of tax increases, although he has signaled his willingness to break the Grover Norquist "Taxpayer Protection Pledge."

Senator Chambliss has already received notice about his attempt to break away from his promise to oppose new taxes. Senator Murray, however, evinced an irresponsible stance on the fiscal cliff by suggesting that the January 1, 2013 cuts and tax hikes would go into effect without tax increases on "the rich."

First of all, "rich" comes in all shapes and sizes, many of whom make just above $250,000 a year, an amount declared on individual tax returns. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy painted a telling and pained portrait of one small businessman trying to get by in a trying economic climate. A tax hike on "the rich" would include small businesses like the Pennsylvania entrepreneur featured in Congressman McCarthy's commercial. Like many businesses facing a growing burden of uncertainty and taxation, he would have to lay off workers and slow down production even more. Congressman Paul Ryan has presented the same argument that taxing "the rich" will end up hurting small business owners, the key engine for economic recovery and growth.

Aside from military spending, which indeed skyrocketed during the Bush administration, the greatest drain, doffing trillions of unfunded liabilities on this country, is found in the entitlement programs which are going broke, and fast. Credit markets will no long buy up American debt as long as the nation continues announcing to private firms a resolute unwillingness to pare back enormous liabilities from these programs. The United States already suffered a downgrade. Any pertinent refusal to outline meaningful and measured austerity will deepen this nation's recalcitrance to borrow. and creditors' reluctance to lend.

Senator Murray already has the dubious distinction of appropriating more earmarks than any other Senator, except Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Instead of arguing that the rich must pay "their fair share", the Senator from Washington should pledge not take more than her state's disbursed share of federal funds. Comprehensive entitlement reform cannot be ignored. The unsustainability of Social Security, Medicare (which ObamaCare raids by $700 billion), and the rising debt burden bearing down on this country cannot be defrayed with more tax hikes on "the rich."

Washington voters already killed the "Bill Gates" backed "soak the rich" in a previous year, most likely because they understand economics and fiscal policy better than their Congressional leaders. They should tell their Senator and the rest of Congress to do the same, and demand that both sides of Congress deal on the types of cuts to make, rather than the amount of tax increases to impose.

Senator Patty Murray must understand that for the good of the veterans whom she honors and the Constitution which she swore to uphold and protect, that she must take the fiscal cliff seriously and refuse tax increases for the sake of her state's businesses and the nation's long-term prosperity.

To the voters of Washington state, please contact Senator Murray and her colleagues and tell them to resist all tax hikes and demand that the next comprehensive budget including entitlement reforms and severs spending cuts to avert the fiscal cliff.

Republican vs. Democrat

Republicans tend to say: "Get off your butt and get to work!"

Democrats tend to say: "Sit on your butt and let us work!"

The political system cannot reach out to the inner man, in which people need to depend on someone greater than oneself, yet at the same time letting someone sit down and do nothing is inimical to the best interests of any individual.

Political parties should provide the best vision for expanding individual liberty and protecting the rights of the individual. The leaders in government must recognize that poor policies make people poorer, as well, and that local governments can play the best role in providing the best reforms for individuals.

One Democrat told me that he did not care how big government got, just as long as government was doing its part to help others. I submit that government that governs least does the most good. I do not espouse Thoreau's radical libertarianism, in which the government that governs best does not govern at all. The great fallacy of anarchical libertarians, ignoring the nature of man, which seeks security  and efficacy in tandem with individual liberty cannot be ignored.

Welfare recipients need real assistance, tapered-off help with a leading toward economic freedom. Allowing inner-city residents to choose the schools that they attend with narrow the eligibility gap which impoverishes so many.

If we really want to help people, choice that enables people to make the most of what they have and to overcome the setbacks of a fallen world will advance their interests.

We want people to "get off their butts and get to work", but we  must also recognize that for many, sitting on their butts and letting the state take from some to others has been a way of life, one which cannot be changed in one political election.

What's the Matter with Massachusetts?

 

Beacon Hill, Massachusetts

Political theorist Thomas Frank published a savage indictment of his home state in What's the Matter with Kansas? In his research, he defines and defies the blue-collar Midwestern state for voting against their "political and social interests" by supporting conservative candidates. Kansas now has a supermajority of conservative Republicans, as they have purged the moderates from their midst. Yet contrary to Frank's characterization, the Kansas legislature has extended to job-creating corporations a tax-haven–such is the result of lower tax rates.

Other Red states got redder after the 2012 election, and they are poised to enact lower taxes, cut spending, and encourage local control in education, all of which will benefit everyone. Wisconsin's reform of collective bargaining rights saved municipalities millions of dollars without raising taxes or laying off workers. Ruby red North Dakota laid the ground-work of a booming job market with the lowest unemployment and the distinction of best-run state.

The blue states got bluer, as well. California now has a Democratic supermajority which is already plotting more tax increases. An average of 5 businesses per week leave the state, taking in their wake jobs, investment, and tax revenue. In Massachusetts, businesses are also fleeing the statebecause of pick-and-choose policies which pick on businesses instead of picking them up with lower taxes and fewer regulations.Democratic policies are not working.

In the last election, Republican Scott Brown of Wrentham was one of the most bipartisan US Senators in Washington, a record of character and compromise that we need now more than ever. He voted to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but he also voted against ObamaCare, which would have laid a more expensive medical insurance mandate on the state along with RomneyCare. Scott Brown rallied 52% of the vote in 2010, a sharp repudiation to an agenda of tax-and-spend statism that Massachusetts' residents resisted. Yet he lost reelection to an academic with a dubious relationship with the truth, a neophyte to the political realm with no prior legislative experience.

Richard Tisei,an openly gay, pro-choice, live-and-let-live Republican, ran for the 6th Congressional District against eight-term John Tierney,whose wife was implicated in tax fraud and now serves time. Congressman Tierney certainly did not sever ties very cleanly with his wife's felonious past. Racked with corruption and and stained with incumbency, Tierney still managed to win another term.

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby reportedshortly after the "light-shellacking" of the GOP nationally that Republicans actually lost ground in the Mass. state legislature. The grim appraisals approached despair. The Red Mass Group declared "As we are no longer viable statewide, it is clear that the party is dead." The blunt observation of Michael Graham,another Mass. GOP operative deserves greater attention:

"If you're a Republican, you can have the cure for cancer in one hand, a balanced budget in the other, and free tuition in your back pocket, and they'd still vote against you."

What's the matter with Republicans, then? Jacoby suggested that Republicans must focus on local governance and sound, consistent fiscal policies. One statehouse Republican, the young Ryan Fattman of Sutton, supports local control, less spending, and lower taxes. His grassroots approach may better serve the Mass GOP, a move which netted him the 18th state representative district by large margins in the last election. Instead of being "not Democratic", Republicans can adopt Fattman's local-outreach libertarian approach to bring back the businesses. Fattman has a record of getting his name out and working with individuals, just what a positive party image should provide.

Republicans can shake-up their outreach. Now one must ask (with all due respect, residents of the Bay State, borrowing Thomas Frank's phraseology):

What's the matter with Massachusetts?

The stronger the Democratic constituency in a state, the less hospitable for business, for commerce, for liberty the state becomes. Massachusetts continues to lose house seats, businesses, and clout in Washington. Despite the ingrained tradition of liberalism in the Massachusetts State House, it seems clear that one-party dominance has done more damage than good.

Why did a slim majority of voters in the 6th Congressional district support an incumbent of dubious character over a gay Republican or in the US Senate race an unseasoned academic over a military veteran? I do not ask this question out of offense, but to engage and expand the GOP brand, which can provide pro-growth, live-free policies.

To anyone who is reading, please post the issues that more concern you, and perhaps GOP operatives in the Bay State can spend more time amassing and assessing the concerns of the voters and help bring back economic recovery and real political reform to Massachusetts.

Fiscal Cliffs and Political Bluffs on Capitol Hill

In desperate times, desperate men will seek desperate means to avoid their desperate ends. One South Bay resident jumped off the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff to skirt prosecution for murder. This man survived, broken and beaten, and now he faces sentencing for killing his wife, then cooking her body to dispose of the remains.

Thelma and Louise drove off a cliff in a blaze of glory to outrun the law. Rugged feminists running from the cops, the two ladies caused nothing but trouble, and refusing to own up to the consequences of a life of "no consequences", they chose the plunge. Then there was Keanu Reeves, otherwise known as computer-hacker "Neo" from The Matrix, who jumped off a building with nothing to fear, because everything in the Matrix was just a figment of the imagination. The jumping was the hard part, but then everything else fell apart as he fell and nothing befell him.

The United States of America sits on a mountain of debt, which is mounting fast, but our leaders in Congress, both Republican and Democrat, have not amounted to much in mounting fiscal reforms. Last year, six House Reps and six Senators set up a plan, but Congress rejected it, and triggered automatic spending cuts and tax increases for later, the fiscal cliff, an option so harrowing the both sides would come together to avoid the plunge.

Washington is facing the fiscal cliff in an attempt to run from the law of supply and demand, to run from their responsibilities in the previous Congress to enact serious cuts. If there is no compromise to aver the fiscal cliff, the following consequences will fall on January 1, 2013: the Bush Tax cuts will expire, which spurred economic growth during the "Naughts" (2001-2009). Also, a massive sequestration ($500 billion plus) will cut through military and other discretionary programs.
Senator Patty Murray of Washington declared on "This Week" that if the "rich" did not pay "their fair share", then the country would go over the fiscal cliff. Saxby Chambliss, the Republican Senator from Georgia, claimed afterwards that he "cares" too much about his country to stand by the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" that he signed to get into office, the one which induced his constituents to vote for him. Those two Senators were patting each other on the back, delivering contradictory messages, and we wonder why this country faces a fiscal cliff. The "fiscal cliff" was supposed to be bad enough to force compromise, but everyone now appears more locked in place to follow their leaders like lemmings.

The Weekly Standard's conservative editor-in-chief William Kristol offered that Republicans might as well cave on tax cuts for the rich, since most of the rich vote Democratic, anyway. George Will argued that the cuts and hikes fall right in place with the Democrats' race to explode domestic spending while imploding the military. Charles hammers Republicans to stand their ground, not give an inch on taxes, If they must, they should go over the cliff like an estranged version of Thelma and Louise and let Obama’s legacy suffer.

President Obama offered one plan for avoiding the fiscal cliff, which elicited laughter from the Senate Minority leader. Obama wants to spend more money and not touch entitlements, while raising taxes. It would be funny if the fiscal fallout were not so serious.

Republicans fear that they will be blamed for letting the country go over the cliff without a parachute. However, tax increases will harm small businesses and force more wealth into tax shelters. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released a commercial spotlighting the tight spot that small businesses find themselves in -- and tax hikes on the "Top 2%" will hurt their bottom line, stall business growth, and force more layoffs. Congress should not kill commerce just to make a deal.
Perhaps another cliff-jumper can give Republicans something to believe in. On his "Last Crusade" to find the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones faced an immense gorge, with the mouth of the final cave lying before him. He stepped out in faith, landing on a large land bridge disguised to match with the rocked ridges of the opposing side. It took a lot of guts to walk by faith, but he was rewarded with the Holy Grail at the end.

Perhaps the Republicans should call President Obama's bluff on the fiscal cliff, like Indiana Jones. If the President refuses to itemize specific and comprehensive entitlement reforms and spending cuts, then let him plunge with the rest of Congress. The Republicans will stand on their principles, and the Democrats will have to eat the consequences for their vision of a big government made bigger. By letting the massive sequester go through, Congress will enforce their promised cuts which they had enacted. Obama’s legacy will be ruined, and the Democrats will have the expansion of the recession on their hands, or they will have to deal on another round of tax cuts in 2013. By 2014, voters will then push off the cliff every legislator who refused to budge on cutting spending or reforming entitlements.