Why Africa Matters

July 23, 2008 by Bill Frist, M.D.

September 11 changed the lives of every American, in ways that none of us could have imagined. As we all tried to cope with the terrible tragedy that took place on that day, we began to realize that our world had changed forever and the war on terror has been ongoing since. This battle has taken us to countries all over the world, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the mountainous regions of Pakistan to Yemen to the remote islands of the Philippines and many other places. It's become clear to all of us that we are in a long-term struggle and that our very survival depends on winning.

As a doctor and a Senator I have had an opportunity that few people ever have - to see how helping the poorest and most needy third world countries can actually help us win the global war on terror. Nowhere is this more evident than it is in Africa.

Africa is home to many of the world's poorest countries -- states in crisis-- and it is in these countries and regions that we find Al Qaeda and other equally dangerous groups sending representatives to recruit and train. We must get ahead of this deadly growing web of evil by standing firm in Africa.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell recognized this when he said "The United States cannot win the war on terrorism unless we confront the social and political roots of poverty." He is right. In Africa, it is into regions wracked by drought, extreme poverty and crippling diseases that we have seen the spreading influence of Al Qaeda. In places like Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.

We can stop them and it can be done with the help of the healing hands of doctors and nurses.

Since 1998 I have made annual medical mission trips to Africa and have seen first hand how the efforts of the United States government and the American people can and do make a difference.

In the past, American foreign aid was distributed without any consideration for how it would be used. As a result the United States wasted much of the foreign aid we gave to Africa. That has changed. In 2003, when I was the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, we passed a bill creating the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The purpose of MCC is to help the United States reduce global poverty through economic growth. MCC represents a fundamentally different way of giving American development aid to the world's most deserving nations. Providing accountability and generating real results on the ground in these countries is critical. We focus on simple but crucial efforts like providing mosquito netting to prevent the spread of malaria and empowering volunteer groups to deliver the aid and life-saving resources directly.

I have said many times people don't go to war with someone who has just saved the life of their child. That is an important thing for all of us to remember.

That is why when I speak to my former colleagues in Washington, I urge them to look ahead and see Africa for what it can be with our help: developing prosperous nations and friends of America.

This past weekend, Mike Huckabee joined me, Senator Daschle, Cindy McCain and a number of other individuals in Africa to learn more about the good work that is being done there by American charities such as Samaritan's Purse, our doctors and nurses and the American taxpayers who have poured billions of dollars into programs to combat the spread of HIV/Aids. I was very pleased that Mike was able to be a part of this leadership team. We need more American leaders to recognize the importance of our work in Africa on a humanitarian level and a national security level. Mike understands that.

During our trip he suggested I blog about this very issue as part of his Vertical Day forum, with the hope that the participants, candidates and individuals, would come to see why Africa matters.

I thank him for the opportunity to post here today and I encourage you to learn more about these efforts on my website's blog at
www.hopethroughhealinghands.com

http://www.huckpac.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=1757

You Could Have Heard A Pin Drop

When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.' You could have heard a pin drop.

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?" A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day,they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?' You could have heard a pin drop.

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?" Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German." You could have heard a pin drop.

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE... Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, ''The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !'"The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to." You could have heard a pin drop.

If you are proud, pass this on! If not delete it.

Author Unknown

The FairTax

July 23, 2008 by Rep. John Linder

We are rapidly coming to the point when people will be telling stories about what a great and powerful nation the United States of America used to be. The cost we are asking our citizens to endure makes us less than competitive in a global economy. We have a tax law with nearly 70,000 pages of law and regulations. Our tax on capital is crippling. Our tax on income for the highest earners takes half of what we earn. All of these costs, as well as the cost of complying with a code that no one understands, become embedded in the cost of our goods and services pricing us out of global markets. This is very well understood overseas. In a recent visit to Ireland, Neal Boortz, the co-author of two books on the FairTax, was told by an Irish gentleman that the Irish are scared to death that we will go to the FairTax. He explained that their economic “miracle” came as a direct result of our crushing taxes on capital and labor. Very simply, American companies relocated to Ireland because their tax code was much friendlier to business.

Since 1998 I have advocated for the FairTax. A simple bill--in fact, a mere 132 pages long--that will abolish all Federal income taxes, including personal, estate, gift, capital gains, alternative minimum, corporate, payroll, and self-employment taxes, and replace them with one simple, visible, personal consumption tax. The FairTax taxes what we take out of society rather than what we put into it.

Every household will get cash distribution at the beginning of each month that will be based on the size of the household and will allow that household to buy its essentials untaxed. Beyond that we are all voluntary taxpayers paying taxes when we choose as much as we choose by how we choose to spend.

Our nation has coped with this tax code for 95 years and it has failed. Our tax code has driven $2 trillion into the underground economy costing us about $50 billion in tax collections. Our tax code has driven $12 trillion into offshore financial centers that should be parked in our markets and banks. We are spending between $400 and $500 billion each year just complying with the code. That is like paying for a dead horse. We get nothing for that expenditure but a headache.

Getting rid of the IRS fixes everything. Keeping it in place and nibbling around the edges of the current system fixes nothing. As former Secretary of the Treasury told me, “You have just proposed the largest magnet for capital and jobs in history.” Why wouldn’t we want the United States to be the outsource destination for jobs? Why wouldn’t we want our nation to be the world’s safest and most stable tax haven? The FairTax will give us these results as well as create an environment that will expand freedom.

We have amassed millions of supporters across the country, all of whom are hungry for change. That said, we have millions more to go and we need to grow this grassroots army. I hope you will go to my website, www.johnlinder.com. There you will find much more information on the bill, and you can join the fight by signing up to become a “Citizen Co-Sponsor” for the FairTax. You can play an active role in bringing change to Washington.

http://www.huckpac.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=1754

Should Moral Conservatives focus on a Right to Life or a Traditional Marriage Amendment?

UNTIL we stop the innocent blood spilling on our land, America’s soul is lost. So putting an end to the killing should be the prime objective. Most Americans still don’t get it, even Christians and that’s why Abortion is still going on for 41years (1967 in some States). How many good Church going Christians, people like Senator Obama, believe they can follow Jesus, but it’s OK to pass laws plunging sharp instruments into a squirming baby’s brain to collapse the skull at delivery. They used to have a name for this, “Murder”.

Although here in California as everyone knows, a major battle is going on, the issue of Same Sex marriage is shaking up many ordinary citizens. Yes, there are churches and synagogues endorsing these covenants, but the majority of churches are still opposed. The hardest thing for us is that since 2000, when California voters passed a Measure that marriage should be between a man and woman only by 61%, lobbyists have been busy getting legislation passed indoctrinating our school children. These bills were signed by both a Democratic and our current Republican Governor. Many of these children are now adults who can vote. Last year a ban on using the words, “Father and Mother” in school books was successfully signed into law. We’ve gone over the edge of sanity.

The irony of it all, is that just as same sex couples were coming from all over to be wed here in California, Lightning Bolts started hitting the ground. Over 8000 hits already from freak lightning storms with no rain and 1400 fires are now blazing at the same time using up our precious water, polluting our air, displacing people and wild life, destroying everything Green our legislators and environmentalist are working on, and our fire fighters can’t put them out fast enough. This came immediately after the Gov. had declared a State of Emergency drought condition. One can’t help but be reminded of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as Abraham saw the smoke from the destruction at a distance (Genesis 19). Is there a chance God is talking here, hello? Recently before this, words of prophecies have been circulating among Church groups that California is going to face much more catastrophy and to be prepared.

But with all the bad news, we do have some good, and even though many Californians are resistant to speak up against homosexual marriage, the Sacramento Bee Newspaper reported, “McCain backs initiative barring gay marriage in California”. And you can’t help but have a sense of admiration for this man in having the courage to take an unpopular Media stand on such a hot topic that even our Republican Governor Arnold has completely flip flopped on. So yes, I agree we must take a stand on this issue. But we need to continue to put the lives of children on the forefront, who the Bible says are fearfully and wonderfully made in their mothers womb in God’s own image. http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1045969.html

In a sense, both these practices are forms of suicide, since both block the genetic and spiritual fulfillment of a family’s legacy to continue through their offspring. Families aren’t complete when some are missing.