Nanny State or Employer Rights?

I'm in disagreement with my favorite blog. I guess it has to happen sometime. The question is whether NYC Health Dept. is over the top with their new rules about employee conduct in the workplace. See Here for background. I am not saying that the rules are over the top and ridiculous, because I believe they are; but I think the bigger picture here is whether the employer ~which is the NYC Health Dept~ has the right to dictate to its employees what they can eat and drink during meetings and parties. What’s the difference in a company banning alcoholic drinks during working hours and sodas?

The difficulty for some is that it’s the NYC Dept of Health and so it’s a government entity. It’s also a fact that many in government ~and outside~ want to regulate what we can and cannot eat; i.e. Moochelle and her “fight against obesity” ~which she herself is losing, but that’s another subject altogether~ I know that NYC is regulating what restaurants can serve, but that’s precisely why I think this is why as conservatives we should be on the side of the employer ~which happens to be a government agency~

Small businesses ~and large~ are being regulated to death. My dh works for a religious drug rehab and they have to consult with a lawyer when they need to fire someone; and TN is a right to work state. What about smoking? Smoking is banned in restaurants. Shouldn’t that be up to the owner of the restaurant? What has happened to Americans? If we don’t like something someone else is doing, we think there needs to be a law against it. Why are we a nation that is so worried about offending someone, that we limit everything?

As a Constitutional Conservative, I believe in limited government. I think we need to do away with whole depts.; the EPA, FDA, HUD, Dept of Education, just to name a few. I think it’s hypocritical to say that I believe individuals can make their own choices for their lives, but business owners can’t.

What do you think?

The Broader Battle over Planned Parenthood

The battle to defund Planned Parenthood should not only focus on whether taxpayers should be funding abortion, but also on the broader question of whether taxpayers should fund any healthcare. Rep. Mike Pence has been a front-line warrior for the unborn in this fight. He authored an amendment which passed the House to defund PP; however, I don’t believe it goes far enough.

From National Review Online

“Planned Parenthood clinics focus mainly on abortion — and because money is fungible, there is no way to fund the useful services without freeing up money for the organization to spend on abortion. In 2009, the group made only 977 adoption referrals and cared for only 7,021 prenatal clients, but performed a record 332,278 abortions. In other words, a pregnant woman entering a Planned Parenthood clinic was 42 times more likely to have an abortion than to either receive prenatal care or be referred for adoption. Planned Parenthood recently made plain the centrality of abortion to its mission by mandating that every one of its affiliates have at least one clinic that performs abortions within the next two years.”

In other words, a baby being carried into PP by its mother is 42 times more likely to be murdered than to be given care.

"And for all the talk about how poor women would be harmed if taxpayers stopped subsidizing Big Abortion, it is telling to see how Planned Parenthood is spending its money. According to a June 2008 story in the Wall Street Journal, Planned Parenthood was flush with cash and using its profits to rebrand itself. The effort was designed to build the business by targeting wealthy consumers to complement their existing customer base of poor and minority populations. While taxpayers underwrite its operations, Planned Parenthood is building luxury health centers in shopping centers and malls, designed by marketing experts with touches such as hardwood floors, muted lighting, and large waiting rooms."

“Despite efforts to suggest otherwise, the Pence Amendment does not reduce funding for cancer screenings or eliminate one dime of funding for other important health services to women; the money that does not go to Planned Parenthood as a result of the Pence Amendment will go to other organizations that provide these services. If the Pence Amendment becomes law, thousands of women’s health centers, clinics, and hospitals will still provide assistance to low-income families and women. The Pence Amendment would simply deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood.”

While I appreciate Mr. Pence’s effort to cut Federal funding of PP, it doesn’t cut overall spending. I’m not real happy about that. Yes, I want to defund PP and the abortion industry, but I also don’t think we should be funding ANY healthcare for ANYONE. Get the government out of Unconstitutional spending. We need to cut entire depts from the Fed government. It’s not the Federal government’s ~taxpayers~ job to subsidize or provide healthcare for anyone. God instructed His people, not the government, to care for the poor; widows and orphans. It’s not that I don’t think that the truly poor don’t need help, I just don’t believe it’s the taxpayer’s responsibility. Right here in Memphis is an example of this; Christ Community Health Centers. There are better ways to provide help for the poor.

As Walter E. Williams stated so eloquently; “I believe in helping my fellow man. Reaching into your own pocket to help your fellow man is praiseworthy and laudable; reaching into somebody else’s pocket to help your fellow man is despicable and worthy of condemnation.”

If the Republicans can’t defund PP, then how will they be able to defund anything else and get the Fed budget under control.

Memphis Needs More Grace

Our Ladies’ Movie Club met for dinner last night and then went to see "The Grace Card". It is a story that is set here in Memphis. As Memphians, we saw familiar places, even familiar faces; ~one inconsistency was the hospital~ what was very real was the attitude of the characters. While it was set in Memphis, I know that it’s also true in many major cities across our country. One of the topics at dinner was discussing Liz Taylor’s death and that there would be protests at her funeral by the “church” that protests also at military funerals. It was noted that while we don’t approve of gay marriage ~or that lifestyle~ militant protesting does nothing to reach out to the individuals that are caught in that lifestyle. Where’s the Grace? Where’s the Love? I admit that I struggle with the balance between “loving the sinner, but hating the sin.” Jesus hung out with sinners; he didn’t engage in or condone their sin, but that’s who he spent most of his time with. What does it look like in a Christian’s life ~in my life and your life~ to offer Grace and Mercy like Jesus? He is the perfect balance of justice and mercy. What does it look like in our lives when we emulate that? To be honest, I don’t know, but what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked. Just look at Memphis.



It’s frustrating to me because I weep for the children that grow up ~and have grown up~ in this reality in Memphis. There’s a real chip on the collective shoulders of Memphians. While it saddens me ~as Charlotte Bergmann states, “For approximately 50 years an entire group of people have become enslaved to the political idea that government knows what is best. That government collects our money to redistribute it to the poor...somewhere along the way that money is placed in the pockets of bureaucrats. Real jobs will allow the people to know where the money is distributed. Let the government stay within the constitutional constraints and restore liberty.” I see the consequences of slavery to victim-hood every day in Memphis. It’s more than a political problem; it has destroyed countless families and lives. The answer is in more than politics, it’s in changing attitudes one life at a time. What am I going to do today to reach out to someone and change an attitude? What are you going to do?

What does it look like to play "The Grace Card"?

"I promise to pray for you everyday; to ask for your forgiveness; grant you the same; and be your friend always."

Are Your Toes Ready for Spring?

Are Your Toes Ready for Spring? Are they ready to peak out of your sandals? Your feet have been hidden all winter and now it's ready to let them out! Are they ready to see the world? Is the world ready to see them?

Too often foot health is overlooked, when in fact, foot health is crucial to our well being. Poor foot health can lead to skin problems, chronic foot pain, and even weight gain. The feet carry our whole body everyday and can often benefit from nourishment, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
Treat Your Feet Today with BC spa Pedicure Collection.

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Last, rub ultra-rich Cooling Foot Salve all over your feet ~be sure and get between your toes~. It moisturizes, nourishes and protects your feet. This advance formula includes emollients like shea butter and grape seed oil to help moisturize and soothe skin; Vitamins E & B protect skin; and peppermint oil, which gives off a relaxing aroma and provides a cooling and invigorating sensation for your feet.

Now your feet are ready to apply your favorite color. Look out world!

Today's Praise

From 31 Days of Praise by Ruth Meyers:

Thank You, Lord, for each specific strong point and admirable quality in my life partner. Thank You for bringing us together, and for the way Your love sweetens our earthly love! I bless You, Lord, for the many benefits You have given me through this dear one.

Yet, Lord, I praise You that You are surpass even the best person in my life. You are distinguished above all, “the most winsome of all beings” (Tozer). You are my share in life, my reward, my inheritance.

Who can compare with You? You are my perfect Life Partner, my dearest, most delightful Loved One, my always-present Companion. You are the strength of my life, and my portion forever. Only my relationship with You is sure to be lifelong and more, with never a good-bye!

Thank you that “You are so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful, that you can meet and overflow the deepest demands of my total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is” (Tozer)

Today's Praise

From 31 Days of Praise by Ruth Meyers.

Father, I thank You for the people in my life who seem to bring more pain than joy, for I believe You have let our paths cross for important reasons. Thank You for the good things You want to do in my life through the things that bother me (their irritating habits? their moodiness? their unloving ways? their demands? their insensitivity? their unrealistic expectations?). I'm grateful that You are with me, to meet my needs when other ~even those close to me~ fail to do so. I'm so glad that You are also within me, working to make me more like Jesus ~more patient, more gentle, more loving~ through the very things I dislike.

Thanks You too that You love these people, and that Your love is adequate to meet their deep needs and to transform their lives, however willful or unwise they may sometimes be. Thank You that you care for them deeply, and that each of them has the potential of being a vast reservoir from which You could receive eternal pleasure. And so, thought I may not feel grateful, I give thanks for them by faith, trusting your goodness, Your wisdom, Your power, and Your love for them as well as for me.

And I praise you that I need not fret about these people, or be envious, or mull over angry thoughts to prove I'm right. Thank You that by Your power I can receive them as You receive me: just as I am, warts and wrinkles and hang-ups and all ...that through Your grace, I can choose to wipe clean any slate of grievances I have within me, and to view these people with a heart that says, "You no longer owe me a thing." Thank You for Your Spirit who empowers me, so that I can do them good, delight in You, and commit my way to You, resting in You as You unfold Your good purposes in these relationships ~in Your time.

Calling Texas Patriots!

H/T weedweed at The Conservative Treehouse

Senate Bill 14, the VOTER ID BILL, will go to the Texas House Floor Monday morning (via the Texas Tribune):
The House Calendars Committee voted this evening to place the voter ID bill, SB 14, on the House calendar for Monday. Gov. Rick Perry declared the item an emergency issue just days after the Texas Legislature gaveled in two months ago…

The measure would require voters to present photo identification — like a driver’s license — at the polls in order to cast a ballot.

Asked why the item was scheduled for Monday and not later this week as some members expected, Hunter said it was just a matter of timing.

“I can’t tell you much more other than we just got the paperwork today,” he said.
If you have an opinion on this bill, you are encouraged to share it with your State Representative. and share it with your fellow grassroots Texans

Find your statehouse rep here.

This is a very important bill to combat voter fraud. There was voter fraud in the caucuses of the 2008 Democrat Primary We Will Not Be Silenced. In Texas alone there were over 2,000 complaints. ACORN submits fraudulant voter registrations which are then used for fraudulant votes. In order to combat this, we need laws in place where voters must show picture ID in order to cast their ballot. I have to show my id to write a check, fly or apply for a job. Isn't voting just as important?