Supply Side Economics

Okay, quick economics lesson:
Demand-Side Economics, you raise wages, that increases the spending and saving ability of the middle class- heck it even grow the middle class. That demand, drives a need for greater supply. It works like a perpetual motion machine, the demand drives the supply, the supply feeds demand. That sustains the economy (although, admittedly, it may not grow the economy beyond what is reasonable).

Worked pretty dang good from 1932-1980, it even provided tax revenue to provide for things like the providing for the common defense, securing domestic security, promoting the general welfare, and especially securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity (the "American Dream," where each generation had it a teensy bit better than the last one.

Supply-Side Economics (aka Reaganomics, aka Bushonomics) on the other hand is SUPPOSED to work so that if you drastically cut the taxes of the wealthy and corporations, they'll (theoretically) reinvest in research, production, and infrastructure (see the cartoon above on the current bail-out) which (in theory) would provide more jobs to the middle and lower classes and make up the revenue short-fall with payroll taxes. The idea was that "a rising tide lifts all boats."

IN PRACTICE, human nature being what it is, greed plays a roll. CEOs pay themselves 400x as much in salary as their employees make, executives put their own interests ahead of both their share holders and the common good- and certainly their share holders still come before the common good of the community, state, or nation. Investors use their tax cuts (and looser regulations) to gamble on bigger and bigger and quicker and quicker returns.

Was it Aesop or the Grimm brothers who told us about the goose that laid the golden eggs? Feeding, caring for, and nurturing the goose gets you years of golden eggs. Butchering the goose to get what eggs are in it's belly only gets you that one or two eggs. Greed vs. sustainability. Bubbles of rapid growth, or perpetual but gradual climb? Which is better for America in the long run?

As someone with a college degree in History, I'm here to tell you friends that 1980-2008 looks a lot like 1909-1929. A "gilded age" of conspicuous consumption , unregulated corruption, and unbridled ambition. PLEASE think about this when you vote on Tuesday. PLEASE.

This is not the difference between "Socialism" and "Pro-American," this is the difference between moral (good steward, civic-responsible) capitalism and amoral (malignant, cancerous) capitalism. PLEASE put America back on the right track.

"Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men." ~ From FDR's first inaugural address, 1932

Edifying experience

Tonight I had the humbling privilege to narrate a piece of music at our high school's fall concert.
The piece was 'A Jefferson Portrait'* - by Elliot Del Borgo. We practiced for at least a month or more. It was challenging to try to count and listen to the band and watch for the director's cues. It was a fun challenge to read dramatically for fluency and expression, and yet be careful not to be over dramatic so as to respect the dignity of the words.

It was a moving experience for me because I love Jefferson's words so much and they are so important and valuable to us, even more so facing such an important election. Several teachers and parents who were there complimented me and of course that felt good. One parent even said that I should consider working in radio- so I had to try not to let myself get a big head.

But the most meaningful part was when a disabled Vietnam veteran thanked me because he felt like we had a government that had become "destructive of these ends," and needed to be altered or abolished. I knew that he blamed our government for the Agent Orange which had destroyed his life and pursuit of happiness. You can blame both Democrats and Republicans for that war (Johnson first, then Nixon). He went on to say that he feared another revolution was on it's way if things didn't change dramatically in the next few months. I didn't ask if he supported McCain or Obama ("leave a tender moment alone" Billy Joel always used to say). I thanked him for his service to our country and agreed with him that Jefferson's writing meant as much or more to us today as 230 years ago.

Just as pastors have to give credit to God for words form the Bible, I know that it was these words and these ideas that have the power, not my reading or our bands performance (although they did a supurbe job). I know it's October, not July but I hope that people will remember and meditate on the meaning of Jefferson's words before they vote on Tuesday- whether they are liberal, conservative, moderate, or undecided.

*In case you follow the link and listen to 'A Jefferson Portrait,' you should know that this is not a recoding of our performance tonight- just a sample from some music company that I found on the web to halp me practice.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies;...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

My Suspended Campaign

In case you hadn't noticed, my column and cartoons haven't been running in the Mapleton PRESS for a few weeks now. It's complicated. Suffices to say that it was my personal decision to go on hiatus, not an editorial decision on their part. It has been difficult. It is a personal leave of absence, and it is still indefinite. I've gone so far as to change the masthead on this blog.

I always believed in talking about "sex, politics, and religion- not necessarily in that order," and that it is important to speak the truth as you believe it. But this election has superheated. I never minded complaints about me or the occasional hate mail, but it got intense. People feel so passionately about their sides that they become angrier and uglier faster.

While other people may be hypersensitive and wrapped up in rancor, I'm probably culpable too. I'm very passionate about what I believe too, so no doubt my tone became more acidic and less light hearted. I had planned to go "cold turkey," and never post anything here if I couldn't write a weekly column too- but obviously I didn't have enough self control for that.

My dream was that being held to the discipline of writing a weekly column might someday lead to being able to write professionally full time. In my mind, blogging was extra, superfluous, a past time- column writing was the meat, blogging the side dish. If this is all I have, I'm just another prattling voice in the vast blogosphere, that hardly anyone ever bothers to read. In the PRESS, it was farm league, small time, but there were 4,000 readers- even if most of them disagreed with me and several of them thought I should be tried for treason.

If/when I return (after this damn election) I'd have to find a way not just to speak the truth, but to speak the truth in love and with more humor and less venom. But at this point, I don't know if or when that day will ever come.

It is important that my detractors and critics know that "I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party" or Socialist, or Taliban, or Terrorist. I am not a baby killer, a satanist, or a debaucher. I do believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior and I believe that might should not make right, but just the opposite- that right should make might. I believe in small town, agricultural Iowa, I believe in family and treating people with kindness and working hard. I Love America and I do not wish ill for her. Please don't feel sorry for my children or talk about me behind my back or avoid making eye contact with my wife or in-laws. Try following Jesus' advice in Matthew 5 "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you" (sorry if you ever felt like I persecuted you, could ya please try not to deliberately persecute me, okay? Thanks).

It is important that my fans (if I ever had any) know that no one at Enterprise Publishing and the Mapleton PRESS did this to me. I needed to take a break. After 25 years of dreaming, I finally got the gumption to send out both columns and cartoons to national syndicates and got rejected by every single one. I thought I could withstand that, but it really rattled me- though not as much as neighbors who don't think I can possible be Christian because I'm not as rabidly pro-life and anti-gay and anti-immigrant as they are. Thank you for your encouragement and camaraderie. Keep me in your prayers.

It is important for those readers who disagreed with me a lot of the time but still enjoyed reading my column and cartoons, but who don't hold all kinds of animosity towards me that you should always be willing to talk about anything with anyone, and also be willing to listen to anyone talk about anything. Listening and learning, sharing and discussing- even when you disagree, and trying to find common ground- these are what makes America great and make the give and take of democracy work. Thank you, and please pass it on.

Quotes from an Iowa statesman

"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends." ~Henry A. Wallace

"A liberal knows that the only certainty in this life is change but believes that the change can be directed toward a constructive end." ~Henry A. Wallace

Photography can blow your mind

MORE Lutheran Surrealism

A second helping of surrealist pot-luck Lutheran hot-dish! I've added several new Lutheran surrealist works to this gallery, just in time for Reformation!

Photo of Luther as surrealist Rene Magritte. No special meaning, just kinda weird and cool.

Frau Katie, little deer- obviously based on the Frida Kahlo painting

Indestructible Liturgy, based on Man Ray's "Indestructible Object." I guess while I love the traditional liturgies, I don't have any hang ups about contemporary worship like some Lutherans, but nor do I think we should throw the baby out with the bath water either. Once upon a time what Luther and Bach did was counter-cultural and iconoclastic.

The Holy Spirit upon Erasmus, based on some renaissance painting and one by Rene Magritte.

More Lutheran Surrealism

This year I decided to revisit the theme of Lutheran Surrealism, so here is a whole new batch of weirdness-
Martin Luther as Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros. (works for dia de los Muertos too).

C.F.W. Walther with Dali's mustache.

Phillip Melancthon can't sleep, based on one of Salvador Dali's more famous works.

Lutheran Surrealism

Last year, I was surfing the web and stumbled on this blog, http://lutheransurrealism.blogspot.com By this college professor who's into surrealist poetry and philosophy who became a Lutheran. His mind bending writing inspired me to PhotoShop a few of the great Surrealist paintings (that weren't totally lewd). Just in time for Reformation (October 31) Scary, huh?

Yeah, I stayed at school and waited for Parent/Teacher conferences to start, so I was REALLY bored. I promise I'm not on drugs, and I won't be offended if you don't "get it." I have kind of a weired sense of humor.

If you think they're funny, feel free to pass them on. Maybe we can start a cult or something.
Happy Reformation Day.

The persistence of litergy
Just like Salvador Dali's 'Persistence of Memory.' I used the LCMS's new "Lutheran Service Book from CPH because I couldn't find a good picture of the old blue 'Lutheran Worship' or what i was really looking for, the red 'Lutheran Hymnal.'


This is not a beer stein
ala Rene Magritte's famous, "This is not a pipe."

It's the Great Pumpkin, Karl Barth!
Robert L. Short in his book 'The Gospel According to Peanuts' pointed out that "Charlie Brown" may have been a cleverly devised literary device for cartoonist Charles Schultz to inject the ideas of the great twentieth century theologian "Karl (Charles) Barth (Brown)." Since he was one of my heroes, I always secretly hoped that since he was from Minnesota, Schultz was Lutheran, but I think actually he may have belonged to the Church of Christ or something like that. So what if Schultz wasn't a surrealist! Reformation and Halloween are the same day, so I'm allowed to take a little license. I always felt that Linus was more like Kierkegaard, but Barth's hair is kind of crazy like Linus's is in this picture. Really, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's face and head look more like Charlie Brown, but how can you satirize someone who was martyred by the NAZI's, I mean, come on, some things are sacred.

Keep Fighting

I call this "keep fighting." Obviously it's all about adolescent angst. I think someone could use it as a book cover for some teen novel someday.

Some dark images

Merlin's Cave 1
A drawing, a painting, and an intaglio print melded together in photoshop. Spooky for Halloween, huh?
'Merlin' by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thy trivial harp will never please
Or fill my craving ear;
Its chords should ring as blows the breeze,
Free, peremptory, clear.
No jingling serenader's art,
Nor tinkle of piano strings,
Can make the wild blood start
In its mystic springs.
The kingly bard
Must smile the chords rudely and hard,
As with hammer or with mace;
That they may render back
Artful thunder, which conveys
Secrets of the solar track,
Sparks of the supersolar blaze Note.
Merlin's blows are strokes of fate,
Chiming with the forest tone,
When boughs buffet boughs in the wood;
Chiming with the gasp and moan
Of the ice-imprisoned hood;
With the pulse of manly hearts;
With the voice of orators;
With the din of city arts;
With the cannonade of wars;
With the marches of the brave;
And prayers of might from martyrs' cave.



I put a charcoal drawing and a pencil drawing together, but did a lot in photoshop. Frankly I think this final composition is a stronger artwork than either of the two originals. I call this "of two minds." You could think of it as someone who is treacherous and "two-faced," or you could imagine someone with multiple-personality-disorder. Or you could just interpret it your own way. I thought it would be fun to do make something scary for Halloween. Boo!

Opie for Obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Done

Well friends, I did it. I saw a poster at city hall advertising early voting, so since I had a few hours between the end of school and parent/teacher conferences I drove to the county courthouse and "got 'er dun."

There was no touch-screen, just a booth and a piece paper. which I sealed in my secrecy affidavit envelope and handed directly to someone in the county recorder's office.

I believe in the secret ballot so I won't tell you how I voted, but let's just say I went with hope rather than fear, ideas rather than ideology, action not anger, real change rather than faux change that would continue the Reaganomics and Bush Jr. foreign policy that got us in the fix we're in.

Agree with me? Get out there and do likewise. Insanely incensed by me? Get out there and balance (cancel) out my vote with yours. Don't care either way? Then sit on your hands, but then don't complain come November 5.

The picture of mental health

Red, Blue, Black, and White oil pastels on paper. I'd been teaching 4th graders about Van Gogh but I can see lots of Picasso, Matisse, and Klee influences here too. Plus, it's pretty obvious that I could use some Prozac or something.

Education, Perceptions, and the Election

I received this as an Email; I didn't do the fact check, but i is enough to cause some thought even if some of the facts are not fully accurate.


What if things were switched around? Think about it...

Would the country's collective point of view be different?

Ponder the following:

What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severe disfiguring car accident, when she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

What if the Obamas had adopted a white child?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

Educational Background:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.

Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/14/opinion/20081014_OPCHART.html

Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared?

As of Friday, a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.

See the charts in the New York Times

Grandpa always said, "If you want to live like a Republican, you gotta vote for Democrats."

Fall in Iowa

Come let us reason together

I got another one of those emails this morning that claim that Obama is not just a Muslim, but also the Antichrist. This time I think my response is a little less vitriolic, tying to "speak the truth in love," and as usual, hit "reply all." This time someone send me back another email saying "I don't need to be preached to." Ever hearing and never listening, whatchyagonna do? But God says that His Word will not return to Him empty. People will believe what they want to believe. God help us.


"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."
~1 John 4:18

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me." ~Jesus (John 14:1)

You want to vote against someone because of their stance on taxes, abortion, or the war, by all means, it is you duty to vote your conscience, but please, don't let your vote be decided by desperate last minute rumors and lies driven by fear or anger.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

Check out 1 John 4:1-3 (the same John who wrote Revelation)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." ~1 Cor 12:3

Please, prayerfully consider what emails you send, and what you believe and who (and in what spirit) they sent it to you. Or at least please take me off of your list of people you forward these things to.

I for one am praying that God will heal our country from the huge rifts being caused by how polarizing this year's election has become.

"But I tell you:Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" ~Matthew 5:44

Seems to me that whether your perceived enemy are Liberals, Democrats, Obama, or Muslims or Muslim extremists, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces and the way to take captive hearts and thoughts is not by traditional dirty politics or letters to the editor or angry emails, but by prayer and by turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving them the cloack off our back (Matt 5:38-48)

In Jesus' hands and with His love and peace (Philippians 4:7)
Your brother in Christ and fellow American who respectfully disagrees with you.

What are we so afraid of?

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."
~1 John 4:18

"Fear always springs from ignorance." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater." -George Washington Carver

“Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.” Albert Camus

What are we afraid of? Muslims? Gays? Mexicans? Iran? A black President? Losing our "way of life?"

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me." ~Jesus (John 14:1)

Columbus Day

"Teachers of children in the United States of America wrote this date on blackboards again and again, and asked the children to memorize it with pride and joy: 1492. The teachers told the children that this was when their continent was discovered by human beings. Actually, millions of human beings were already living full and imaginative lives on the continent in 1492. That was simply the year in which sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill them." ~Kurt Vonnegut

When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to the others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others.

- Eduardo Galeano,
The Book of Embraces

October

Poem about shutting up

There's been ink in my veins from an early age
but it seems like it wasn't meant to be
either I wasn't meant for it or it wasn't meant for me

I want to give it up
I want to do what you want me to

don't know if you're afraid of it,
or if it makes you not like me

I'm trying to give it up,
because I don't want to lose you

but I swear God made me this way
so what am I supposed to do?

I'm haunted by the ghost of Tom Joad

I asked God to take me away from me.
to make me silent and submissive like Winston Smith at the end of 1984
only without having to face the rats or betray Julia first

When will the truth finally set us free?

Recently someone forwarded an email to me warning that Barack Obama is the Antichrist because the book of Revelation says that his reign will be 42 months, the same as a U.S. Presidential term. Big mistake. I hit the "reply" button and preached that brother a sermon. Here's what I wrote:

It's not possible for the book of Revelation to claim the anti-christ is of Islamic decent, 1) Islam wasn't invented yet when it was written, 2) it's a religion not an ethnicity so you can't be of Islamic decent.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

I suggest you read the 1 John 4:1-3

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

While you're at it, you need to bone up on your both your theology and your eschatology a little bit. Many fundamentalist strains of Christianity believe in a false doctrine called dispensationalism that is not truly found in Scripture, but rather was developed in 19th century America.

You're trying to frighten Christian voters into being afraid of Barak Obama, a devout Christian himself- not a Muslim or the anti-christ. This is NOT a Christ-like behavior.

1 John 4:18 tells us that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Besides, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

What you're doing is "the ends-justifies-the-means." You're so afraid of Obama yourself, that you're willing to spread lies and propaganda about him to insure that McCain/Palin win. That's not Jesus- that's Machiavelli.

Dispensationalists pretend to be friends of Israel because they think that Jerusalem will be some kind of celestial star-gate for Jesus' second coming, when in reality they are anti-semitic, hating Jews and blaming them for killing Jesus. They can't wait for them to be "Left-Behind" and sent to Hell. Whereas, granted, Jesus may be the only way, truth and life (John 14:6) BUT- God does not WANT ANYONE to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

It's so unfortunate that politics makes such strange bedfellows because Catholics that are so adamantly opposed to abortion find quick and fervent allies among fundamentalist and evangelicals in the religious-right movement, yet many of these allies suspect the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church itself of being the Antichrist and/or the Beast!

How do we know that Jerusalem won't be a cosmic star gate for his arrival to usher in some millennial reign? Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:22-24 that His true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth, not in physical, geographical or political locations.

As for predictions and prophecies and televangelists who think that the market crash is a sign of the end times or Sarah Palin's prediction that Christians will find refuge from the tribulation in Alaska- Jesus tells us that he will return like a thief in the night in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and in Matthew 24:36 He assures us that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." We need to love and trust Him and not worry about signs or trying to help arrange things for Him politically. He doesn't need any help.
I know you mean well and I'm sure you truly love God and America, I'm sure you're a good person. But be careful not to be corrupted by politics and political messages, whether they're from the right OR the left. Don't be motivated by fear or anger. Be motivated by love and a desire to reconcile everyone to Jesus.

As God tells us in 2 Peter-
" 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."
Thank God, He's granted us liberty and privilege to elect our own leaders in the United States. If you want to vote solely on social issues that are important to you so be it. This is your right. But please, don't be frightened into any choice based on shoddy theological assertions of people who seek to use religion as a means to assert their political agendas.

Remember Galatians 3:28- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Guess what- there is neither Republican nor Democrat, Independent nor Libertarian, Black nor White, Asian nor Hispanic, Urban nor Suburban, Metropolitan nor Rural, either. Believe it or not, there ARE Liberal Democrats who LOVE Jesus and America and want what's best for everyone. I'll even bet that when we get to Heaven, we might just find a few Socialists, Communists, and even Anarchists there!

When will we ever live up to our motto? "E Pluribus Unum"- From many, one.

Soon, I pray.

Please forgive me if I've come off as angry or condescending in either of these emails. I happen to love Jesus and to love America and I have been wounded and persecuted and attacked and alienated and ostracized and doubted, slandered and shunned because I disagree with other Christians who watch Fox News more than they read their own Bibles and I feel like I have to either take a stand like Luther or gradually be pushed away from my Savior by His own "sheep."

Please forgive me, but please, please, don't fall prey to fear, lies, or political propaganda, let alone to false prophecies, false doctrines, and foolish heresies. Read the Bible, not political email forwards. Share God's love and His good news of forgiveness, not fear and racism.

Who do we really serve?

Money remains the great untouchable subject. Especially in church. Every minister I know dreads the yearly stewardship campaign. For most people, money is a deeply private subject, one not to be shared—under any circumstances—with our neighbors, fellow churchgoers, or even family.

Beyond privacy, however, I’ve always harbored a suspicion that American Christians don’t readily discuss money because we might betray the fact that capitalism is really an alternative God. And, that pretty much on a regular basis, we violate the first commandment, “Do not have any gods before me.”

Read the entire article here

Ted's take- I think it was Republican President Calvin Coolidge was the one who said that "the business of America is business and the man who builds a factory builds a TEMPLE." No wonder FDR rebuked the "money-changers" in his first inaugural address. Does the Bible call homosexuality a sin? Sure, but it also calls charging interest on loans a sin! When are Christians in America going to wake up and see that War and Greed are just as wrong as abortion and we need to vote to stop them too!

A problem 30 years in the making

Back in the early 1980’s when John McCain first entered the Senate, the Reagan administration was encouraging savings and loans to compete with banks without having to abide by the same regulations that banks had to. It started a real estate boom fueled by cheap mortgages and risky investments. Commercial office developments sprang up in cities like Phoenix and Dallas and Denver like weeds, but they remained empty.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Board saw the potential for a mess and set rules to limit the amount and kinds of investments that S&Ls could get involved in. Lincoln Savings and Loan Association of Irvine, California, run by Charles Keating III was one of many S&Ls that choose to ignore the rules.

In 1985 Reagan appointed Edwin Grey, a friend of Keatings to the FHLBB. John McCain and four other senators (the “Keating 5”) meet with the FHLBB and the management of Lincoln S&L. Alan Greenspan and McCain both thought that Lincoln should be allowed to keep on conducting business as usual, ignoring the rules. They pressured the board to let Lincoln get by.

In 1987 Lincoln Savings and Loan Association failed, leaving at least 21,000 investors, mainly elderly and retired, loose their life savings. The Resolution Trust Company was formed by the Federal government to bail out Lincoln and hundreds of other S&Ls, The whole bail out cost us tax payers $125 billion.

One of the other S&Ls was Silverado S&L in Denver that cost $1 billion to bail out itself. Neil Bush, one of President George W. Bush’s brothers was on Silverado’s board of directors. Neil settled out of court when the FDIC filed a civil action against him for fraud and conflict of interest.

McCain and Keating were close friends for years. They took vacations together in the Caribbean on Keating’s private jet. McCain failed to report these trips until the Keating 5 came under investigation. Meanwhile, Keating and Lincoln S&L contributed as much as $112,000 to McCain’s senate campaign.

In 1999 Senator Phil Gramm of Texas (up until recently, one of McCain’s “senior” advisors) co-authored the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act which repealed important regulations imposed back in 1933 to control rampant speculation that led to the banking collapse in the Great Depression. Thanks to Gramm, banks could now get directly involved in the stock market and insurance and encouraged mass mergers so that banks like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers could become “too big to fail.”

Within days of the Supreme Court declaring George W. Bush president in 2000, Gramm added the Commodity Futures Modernization Act into the budget bill. The Modernization Act was designed to keep regulators from controlling new financial tools described as credit "swaps,” like sub-prime mortgages bundled up and sold as securities. Under the Gramm law, neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nor the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) were able to examine financial institutions like hedge funds or investment banks to guarantee they had the assets necessary to cover their potential losses.

Much of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act was written by lobbyists, including a loophole which exempted companies that trade energy futures, like Enron, from being regulated. CFMA also let banks accept lower down payments on homes and offer loans without having to run credit checks, salary checks or asset checks on customers first. Keep in mind that Phil Gramm has been John McCain’s chief economic adviser.

In 2003 Bush tried to privatize regulation of the financial industry, fortunately he couldn’t get it past the Republican majority held Congress. In 2005 John McCain sponsored a Senate bill which would have created an independent (private, non-government) agency to “regulate” the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Once again, a Republican Congress knew better than to eliminate all regulation whatsoever.

Now the Bush Administration proposes spending $700 Billion to support banks. And John McCain throws a “hail Mary” by “suspending” his campaign and begging to cancel the Presidential debates.

Incidentally, as of last week, the Iraq war has cost us in the neighborhood of $557 Billion. By the way, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. Could it be that or are the very people in government making these decisions looking out for their own personal wealth?

Paulson’s proposal to Congress insists that any decisions he makes with this $700 Billion must be “Non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court or law or any administrative agency.” What? Is he setting himself up to be the banking Czar?

Republicans should be appalled by the bail out proposal because it amounts to socialism, with the federal government taking control of billions of dollars of private assets. Democrats should be vigilant because that much concentrated power in the executive branch in the interest of corporations and billionaires basically meets all the criteria of fascism except the racism.

Be certainly do need to do something, but it should be carefully crafted in a bi-partisan manor and it needs to include more, not less oversight and regulation. CEOs shouldn’t be paid 500 times as much as workers and they certainly shouldn’t be entitled to millions of dollars in compensation packages or pensions when they’ve driven their banks into the ground.

Working stiffs facing foreclosure need to be helped more than Wall Street speculators. Trusting John McCain to get us out of this mess would be like trusting the fox to guard the hen house.

Taking a Leave of Absence

I think I'm going to go on hiatus for a while.

I have some new stuff that are posted as drafts that will pop up on here in the next couple of days, but frankly I think I'm ready to just hang it up. You can't convince anyone of anything this close to the election and there's not much use in "preaching to the choir" when there's no choir. Barely 4,260 people read the Mapleton PRESS and almost no one reads this blog.

Maybe I'm too much of a blue-stater living in about as red a district as they get and I'm tired of being a mutant, weirdo, pariah. Maybe if I quit writing and cartooning I can just try to fit in.

I love writing and cartooning, they're compulsions for me, part of who I am. But I may as well face that whatever dreams I may have had of being the next Mike Royko or Molly Ivins aren't going to materialize. Better to wake up and get dressed for work than to lay in bed and keep dreaming.