Congress handed Americans a virtual lump of debt-ridden black hole spending coal for Christmas.

The Omnibus spending bill consists of 4,155 pages of pork, costing taxpayers a whopping $1.7 TRILLION dollars. This bill is so massive that no one has the time to even read it before its passage. Opponents of the bill say it is jam-packed with wokism and Democratic pet pork projects. Many may remember when the public was outraged during the Jimmy Carter years that the Pentagon was paying $60,000 for a hammer and $30,000 for a toilet seat. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Today’s Congress and Administration is spending that and more on programs like promoting transgenderism in other countries. It’s true.

The New York Times, while pointing out what it considers the good pork, wrote: “Opponents of earmarks consider the practice corrupt because it essentially allows lawmakers to use taxpayer money to fund pet projects without public debate or discussion. Others regard it as a necessary tool in a partisan Congress, one that gives lawmakers across the political spectrum the ability to cut deals to fund the government and avoid painful shutdowns that hurt federal workers and the U.S. economy.”

To illustrate the example, the Times quoted Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who “fought” for over $280 million in pork for her state, saying, “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for members to give back to their states.” Give back?

And this is how they do it: The Democrats, because they are the party in control, load up these bills with all their pet projects and agendas so they can go back home and tell all the voters the wonderful money they “fought” to get in the budget. And because the Republicans either don’t have the nerve or the votes to stop it, they say “what the heck?” and they start making deals to get their pet projects funded in the bill. By the time all is said and done, the bill has grown from maybe 100 pages to over 4,000, and it funds everything from aid to Ukraine to millions for an LGBTQ museum in New York City. And don’t worry about how they are going to pay for this; 87,000 new IRS agents will be hired to collect.

This is pure socialism. It is the ingredients of government as god. The entity that gives and takes and uses its power to force its subjects to comply. It is the very ominous conduct that the founding fathers of this country warned against.

As Thomas Jefferson said in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1801, “A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”

By these terms, America is practicing bad government. Yet Americans keep electing these deceivers.

The first commandment, as found in Exodus 20:3, says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” That most assuredly includes government.

Posted in The Daily Jot

There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter.

I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve.

I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barnyard, as we often were victims of the “lake effect” from Lake Erie in the southernmost tip of the snow belt. The barn was cold when we turned on the lights and started climbing into the loft and throwing bales of hay down, putting the hay in the mangers, grain in the feed boxes, and water in the buckets. Then the horses and cows were gathered in the barnyard; one by one, we let them through the door, and they automatically went to their stalls or stanchions. The barn warmed up, and the animals contently eating was a comforting sound.

We had dinner and went to church. I remember my brother Chuck carried me out of church that night. He was 14 years older than me, and we were so very close. He was asking me whether I thought Santa had made it to the farm yet. And I was worried that it was so early on Christmas Eve that he had not –for we celebrated our family Christmas on Christmas Eve with my Dad’s birthday. Then he looked up at the moon and said, “See there… it’s Santa’s sleigh and his reindeer. Don’t you see them?” He was so convincing that I looked and looked but couldn’t find them. But Chuck insisted that he had seen Santa Claus. We got home, and sure enough, there were wonderful presents under the tree.

We had a great family time that year, opening presents and enjoying one another. And afterward, neighbors and friends started dropping by to wish my Dad happy birthday. Their kids and I were playing with my new farm set, and there was a lot of laughter and fun.

Chuck was killed by a drunk driver a few years later. Dad passed in 1989. But the spirit of those two wonderful men lives on here and especially in heaven, and I am reminded of them every Christmas Eve – in the best of times or worst of times, they were the best of men.

We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who is with us in all times. And no matter the condition of the world, we can draw comfort in His promise in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

God Bless you and yours during this season.

Posted in The Daily Jot