Another poll, this one from Public Policy Polling, finds Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) leading the pack of GOP presidential contenders. Zogby’s latest poll a couple of weeks ago had Bachmann way out in front with a double-digit lead over her nearest competitor. But the PPP poll finds the entry of Sarah Palin or Rick Perry into the race could shake things up.

“Cut, Cap, and Balance” may be our last chance to turn the Ship of State around. The only way to prevent from sinking into the Abyss is a reconfiguration of the promises government has made to the people that cannot be kept. Today, the House through “Cut, Cap, and Balance” is attempting to begin that process in an orderly way, before a disorderly, catastrophic default down the road turns Washington into Athens.

Once again conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe has exposed the way our corrupt, neglegent, irresponsible, morally bankrupt government urinates away the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people–and does so with a chuckle and a smile. In this latest undercover video, you have a couple of Russian drug smugglers who are pimping out their underage female sisters and have a car worth nearly $1 million dollars when they go to a government agency to apply for taxpayer-funded Medicaid.

Many of us who have eyes to see are quite aware of the trouble our nation is in today. I want to tell you about a man and his wife and the terrible and needless battle they have fought for five years. It’s a battle that should never take place in our great nation, because it goes against the very freedoms and liberties our founding fathers fought so valiantly to bring to pass here in America. You’ve probably heard the gut-wrenching story of Terri Schiavo’s court-ordered murder, but you may not have head about another attempt by our courts to starve another living human being.

While big-spending President Barack Obama balks over a paltry proposed cut of about $2 trillion (which won’t even make a serious dent in deficit spending over the next decade when we’re currently over-spending by more than $1.5 TRILLION a year), Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is showing both parties how to get serious about spending by proposing $9 TRILLION in cuts.

When a conservative–especially a “traitorous” conservative woman–says something that isn’t backed up by seven sworn witnesses and videotape from three different angles, this is more than enough cause for the “mainstream” media to loose the hounds of Hell to inform the American people of their henious act and demand that the conservatives’ birthday be taken away. When a liberal such as Barack Obama tells a flat-out lie…there’s nothing to see here. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Move along. Move along.

There is so much fraud and abuse in Medicaid (and Medicare) that could be cut from budgets without affecting those who are truly in need, but most is off-limits to the politicians who are only interested in buying votes. It is like a family demanding local restaurants and their grocer lower prices for them because they need to cut their food bill, while continuing to eat out several times a week and to buy only the best cuts of meat, much of which ends up in the trash. You and I would think they were nuts.

One of the main selling points for ObamaCare (for any socialized health care scheme) is the ludicrious claim that it will lower costs. What happened when Governor Mitt “RomneyCare” Romney and a gang of socialist Democrats imposed socialized health care on the people of Massachusetts in 2006? The opposite of what was promised: higher premiums, higher costs overall, and long wait times for care. Is this the direction we want for America?

Mitt “RomneyCare” Romney says he doesn’t like the Kyoto Protocol global warming treaty. However, it isn’t because he doesn’t believe in the hoax of anthropogenic global warming (he does), nor is it because he doesn’t believe in loading down America with unnecessary emissions controls and increased costs for consumers (he does), it’s just because Kyoto was too easy on other nations. Romney has made it clear what he will do if elected: “I will work on a global basis to get other nations to combine to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in a way that is fair to us and the other people of the world.”

Concluding my three part series in celebration of our nation’s 235th Birthday, we will look at arguments advanced by both sides. Last week we ended with the question, who were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists and why does it matter to us today? This week we will learn the answers to the questions. Who was debating? What did they have to say? Who won? And, why does it matter to us today? The Federalists had the momentum from the beginning and they were wise enough to appropriate the name Federalist.

Adding bonds to an all-stock portfolio can boost returns and lower volatility, especially in choppy markets. Bonds should be a small but important part of your gone-fishing portfolio allocation. The purpose of a gone-fishing portfolio is to set a simple allocation for each asset class so you can sleep at night and rebalance once a year. Keep some in bonds so you have stable investments with which you can rebalance if the markets fall in value.

By the time the middle of July rolls around every year the summer is half over, everything “summerish” has been done. It really becomes the lazy part of the calendar before school starts. But press coverage goes on every day. Today’s column gives a sampling of what is happening right here in South Dakota.

These are the best of the best articles at Dakota Voice last week, including: Fast and Furiously Stealing the Second Amendment; DOMA Protects Marriage From Animus of Homosexual Activists; Further Proof Homosexuality and Marriage are Exclusive States; World Net Daily Defends Against Islamist Enemies Within America; Media Smears Conservatives, Endangers Homosexuals; Stick It To the Rich…Or Treat All Americans Equally?; My Little China Debt; and more!

How long has it been since Gary Harvey fell down those basement stairs? How long has it been since he found himself vulnerable and fighting not only for life just because of his injuries, but fighting for life because the government officials and so-called ethic’s committees decided it was time to end his life by starving and dehydrating him to death? Just how long has it been and what has changed since the fight began all those years ago?

It seems necessary to address why and even if Christians should be involved in redeeming society and culture. There are many who deride such activity as being a diversion from the “real” work of the church, which in their minds is nothing more than articulating the personal plan of salvation (or “gospel,” very narrowly understood). However, I would counter by saying that such a distinction is more accurately rooted in pagan dualism than scripture. Platonism divides reality into two spheres: the material and the nonmaterial—with the nonmaterial, or spiritual, being superior. This classical Greek view offers a completely unbiblical understanding of reality.

Another week has come and gone, and our government still cannot agree on a plan for addressing America’s impending financial disaster. Each day, Wall Street and Main Street draw closer to the brink. The time for political posturing and half-measures is over. The cancer has metastasized. We need radiation, chemo, and surgery. Unless we are willing to pursue a radical course of treatment we can kiss the American dream of yesteryear goodbye.

I was surprised by a Medicare ruling on a bill to a senior citizen client. In over eight years of helping senior citizens with Medicare related medical bills, I never encountered a Medicare ruling like the one that is described in this article. How can a person be both an “inpatient” and an “outpatient” at the same time?

Many whites that initially had supported our president are now crediting him for our current misery. But blacks, despite suffering far more, are far less inclined to hang it on Obama. The message that massive government spending and borrowing does not grow the economy has not reached blacks. Is this a racial thing? Whites will jump off the ship run by a black captain in a minute while blacks will ride it out until it hits the iceberg?

The debt ceiling has become the loaded gun in Barack Obama’s hand. But there is more than enough revenue to make interest payments even if the debt ceiling is not raised. In 2011, the U.S. is projected to collect $2.174 trillion in taxes. Even if interest payments to Social Security and Medicare are factored in, at most the U.S. has to pay $430 billion in interest this year. So, the risk of a default is actually zero — unless Obama is threatening not to make interest payments should the debt ceiling not be raised.

It seems President Barack Obama has brought us another example of the liberal fondness for manufacturing reality. As I pointed out this morning, liberals like to “redefine” words to better fit their distorted version of reality, but sometimes they just flat make stuff up. Making stuff up is a trusted old play from the liberal playbook and frequently works when the American people aren’t paying attention. That is what President Obama did this morning.

What if you were to learn that a massive Saudi Arabia sized supply of oil was available just 500 miles north of our border? What if this supply of oil was controlled by an ally of the United States who wanted to develop it and ship it south? What if this supply of oil did not require any off-shore drilling? Wouldn’t it make sense to allow that oil to reach the U.S. market rather than having it drilled and transported to China instead?

Students of history may recall “Newspeak” from George Orwell’s novel 1984 about an oppressive socialist world (yes, like the one Barack Obama and his not have in mind for us “little people.”) Socialists, Marxists, liberals and all their related ilk have a predeliction for redefining words because it makes their bad ideas seem more palatable. This is an examination of how the Left has hijacked words and concepts in our language to lower the common denominator of our culture.

When you’re a liberal president–who knows on some level that all your ideas are morally and intellectually bankrupt and are driving this country into an abyss–it isn’t enough to have media outlets like ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, Newsweek, Time, US News & World Report and others on your side. Rogue media outlets like Fox News must be kept at a distance to protect the American people from unpleasant information.

As only he can, Andrew Klavan illustrates the fine art of media focus. He shows us the laser-like concentration displayed by the keen and highly trained journalists who display nothing but objectivity from their well-honed sense of fairness and balance. In this case, we see demonstrated how the “mainstream” media is able to tune out all distractions–even some very loud ones–to concentrate on the truly important problems and gaffes seen from the people who a real threat to the American way of life.

The Origins 2011 creation conference is coming to Rapid City this month! The three-day event will be held July 28-30 at South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. Origins 2011 will feature 10 scientists and educators from creation-affirming colleges and ministries. These individuals will be presenting cutting-edge research in creation science and education. Presentations will be made the evenings of July 28 and 29, and all day July 30.