Obama: The Six Trillion Dollar Man

Obama's Assault on the First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is undoubtedly the most significant of the Bill of Rights.  It is undoubtedly the most significant.  It is the bedrock or foundation of this great nation and speaks to the who we are as a nation and what rights (or freedoms) we hold true.  The right to free speech; the right to choose and practice religion; the right to press;  the right to peacefully assemble; and the right to petition our government for grievances symbolize a nation that promotes individual liberty over government tyranny.

However, as of late, one of those freedoms is under attack.  Despite being mentioned twice in the First Amendment – Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof – the Obama Administration did not get the memo.  Our Founding Fathers intentionally framed religious liberty twice – the establishment of one religion over another and the practice of one’s religion – intentionally.  They did so because of the significance religion plays in a moral and just nation, but religion liberty also played a major role in why we became a nation in the first place.

Many of the early settlers to Colonial America - in the early 1600s - did so because of religious persecution in their native homelands.   If you look back at 16^th Century England for instance, King Henry VIII martyred un-loyal dissidents who refused to recognize him as Supreme Head of the Church of England.  Despite the Act of Supremacy of 1534, many faithful felt the royal crown went too far.  Not too long after, Charles I of England created a schism between Protestants and Roman Catholics, of which many British Catholics fled to Colonial America.

Many of the framers of the Constitution remember what brought them or their ancestors to America – religious persecution and they wanted religious freedom to be protected.  And they did so with the First Amendment – the first protection of five key freedoms not witnessed by any other nation.

Fast forward to present day America and look no further to the Obama Administration for a present King Henry VIII or Charles I.  From the on-set of his inauguration Obama and his cabinet have embarked on a mission to divide the American religious faithful.  Despite those powerful and eloquent  sixteen words of the First Amendment, the Obama has ignored the rule of law and imposed his will on Americans who want to practice religion freely and dutifully.

The first salvo against the faithful was in February 2009 when the Obama Administration reversed the Mexico City policy which originally prohibited federal taxpayer dollars from funding abortions around the globe.  Obama, well known for his abortion rights, in this action willfully uses taxpayer dollars earned by American faithful to fund abortions – or infanticide- against their conscience.  This action also cements America’s legacy in state-sponsored infanticide world-wide.  Not a legacy a moral nation would endure.

The 2011 full repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, instituted by the Clinton Administration advanced Obama’s agenda for sexual liberty.  That sexual liberty, reminiscent of the 1960’s sexual revolution endangers the moral conscience of the faithful in the military who must now cohabitate with who are not of the sexual persuasion.  This action compromises the faithful whose religious and moral teaching prohibit anything other than traditional marriage – between one man and one woman.  This policy also compels the military chaplains to compromise their faith by not condoning non-traditional relationships as immoral which is contradictory to their faith.

The precipice of Obama Administration divide of the faithful was cemented in the embattled Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.   Passed in March 2010 along party lines, the behemoth of a bill is the hallmark of religious intolerance and government tyranny rolled into one.  The tenants of the bill which are an affront to religious liberty center on the mandatory funding of abortion and the conscience violation of contraception funding mandated by the new federally-compliant health care plans.  Despite empty rhetoric and promises from the Obama Administration, a citizens free exercise of their religion is compromised with the implementation of this legislation.

Whether the faithful knows this or not, the faithful’s conscience is compromised by de facto funding of abortion services, abortion drugs and contraception under the new health care plans.  The actions by Obama, his cabinet and the Democrats in Congress is so egregious to the integrity of the First Amendment that many organizations with the Catholic Church had no choice but to take the Obama Administration to federal court.  But let’s not forget that despite the deception by the Obama camp towards the Catholics on this issue, this is an assault on all faithful whose religious teachings put life over death.  An assault on one is an assault on all.

The fate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is up for judicial review by the U.S. Supreme Court with a ruling in late June 2012.  Despite the ruling, the legacy of the Obama Administration is one that does not value the tenets of the U.S. Constitution and clearly not the Bill the Rights long cherished this republic for over 230 years..  Rather the Obama camp is more determined to govern via despotic rule.

Obama's War on Religion

Governor Rick Perry was right.  Obama definitely has a war on a religion.  But what is surprising is that he brought this on during an election year. Then again, no one said he was smart.

Obama Overturns 'Mexico City Policy' Implemented by Reagan

From the moment President Barack Obama took the oath, he he has had a war with established religion.  Let's not forget that President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy just three days after his inauguration.  The Mexico City policy, originally implemented by former President Ronald Reagan back in 1984.  Proposed in Mexico City, the rule prohibited (taxpayer-funded) federal funding for family planning services to clinics or groups that offered abortion-related services overseas, even if funding for those activities came from non-government sources.  And thus, all American taxpayers now pay for abortions globally as directed by the Obama Administration.

As an aside, former President Bill Clinton overturned this policy as well back in 1993 and former President George W. Bush re-instated back in 2001.

Obama Signs Health Care Reform Legislation that Funds Abortions

The topic on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a battle in and of itself, but another battle exists - violation of the conscience clause.  Make no mistake, the health care reform legislation great expands abortion and funding of abortion.  Under the guise that abortion and contraception is health care, the legislation puts no restrictions on abortion and contraception "health care" services.

Since the act is funded through general appropriations and not through Health and Human Services funding it circumvents the Hyde Amendment.  The Hyde Amendment had prevent federal insurance plans from funding abortions.  By creating state health care exchanges, state exchanges are not bound by the Hyde Amendment and based on the original intent of the legislation will most certainly fund abortions.

The health care legislation also redefined the meaning of "preventative care" to ensure that abortion funding would be added.  The "preventative care" redefinition also requires private health care plans to accommodate preventative care procedures.  The catch is that the federal government decides what it is.  So regardless if the plan came from the state health care exchanges or through a private health care plan, abortion would need to be covered.  And thus the patient would be paying for coverage that violates their religious conscience.

Obama Administration Repeals 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Abortion is not the only issue the Obama Administration redefined.  The Administration pushed for and won the debate on repealing the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.  The policy instituted by the Clinton Administration  prohibited discrimination on closet homosexual and bisexual applicants, but barred openly homosexual or bisexual members from enlisting in the military.  While not ideal for the military, it was a policy that worked.

That however was unacceptable to the President Obama.  An issue from the 2008 Presidential campaign, Obama promised a full repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'.  The repeal was initiated when President Obama make the issue a promise in his 2010 State of the Union address.  The legislation was passed in both chambers of Congress and signed by Obama in December 2011.  The repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' was completed in September 2011 after Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta certified the repeal to Congress.

The new military is now one where religious faithful men and woman in uniform must serve with openly homosexual or bisexual fellow soldiers.  Military chaplains must also serve and minister to behavior that their faith teaches as immoral.  Once again, President Obama put political ideology over religious freedom.  But remember, he does not care.

President Obama Forces the Faithful to Violate their Conscience by Mandating Contraception Funding

The latest assault on religion came this month when the Obama Administration instituted a policy forcing religious institutions to provide for health care coverage of contraception.  By far, this has been the most egregious affront to religious liberty as it forces Jewish and Christian churches, synagogues, schools and hospitals to violate the tenants of their faith and fund contraceptive services and devices.  

What President Obama was not prepared for was the public backlash from religious leaders.  Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the provision "represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty." According to Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel’s Vice President for Federal Government Affairs, "this mandate, which is binding on all faith-based entities other than a narrowly confined group of religious institutions, offends First Amendment principles."

The backlash forced President Obama to re-assess the situation and on February 10, 2012 he changed his position stating the religious institutions don't have to provide for the contraception, but insurance companies do.  To the religious faithful, this only made the issue worse.

The shift in policy is only a shift in who pays, but the violation of conscience still remains.  Regardless of whether the person wants coverage or not, the health insurance provider will fund it, violating the precepts of their faith for millions of Americans.

Observation

The Obama Administration is  pushing through a radical agenda to transform the United States from a nation whose bedrock was in morals and faith.  The Obama regime is reckless in that public opinion, nor conscience are barometers, for how it governs.  The results of the Obama Administration on basic unalienable rights such as the practice of religion is afforded to us by a higher God, and not by our government.  By when the government is too powerful, it can take those rights away forcing the faithful to violate their own faith by being mandating to adhere to a perceived lifestyle created by their own government.

In closing, perhaps the Obama Administration should take a refresher course on the First Amendment.  Perhaps they should remember that the "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Perhaps the Obama Administration review their history books as to why America was colonized.  Look no further than the Plymouth colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  For those that forget, it was the English Puritans who settled here because of a conflict with the Church of England.  The violation of religious freedom forced the migration of settlers to American shores in the early 1600s, but where can modern day Americans go under the modern day religious persecution imposed by this regime?

Governor Rick Perry was right.