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It's Obama's Turn

Obama knows the U.S. deficit is unsustainable and the U.S. debt is a huge problem. But it's Obama's turn and the Republicans should let Obama deal with these problems as best he can. With terrorism making the world such a dangerous place, now is not the time for Republicans to shut down the U.S. government over the debt ceiling.
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From Obama's inauguration speech I think his intention for the US government is: "Kindness". And good intentions do account for something. Here is a link to the text of Barack Obama's speech.

Obama knows the U.S. deficit is unsustainable and the U.S. debt is a huge problem. But it's Obama's turn and the Republicans should let Obama deal with these problems as best he can. With terrorism making the world such a dangerous place, now is not the time for Republicans to shut down the U.S. government over the debt ceiling.

Now is the time for everyone to make positive proposals.

How about offering all illegal immigrants in the U.S. full citizenship papers in exchange for an agreement to pay, as a penalty, for a few years slightly higher taxes than naturalized Americans, to help America eliminate the deficit?

And how about raising taxes on beer and alcohol in the U.S. to Canadian levels to help make a dent in the debt?

And how about listening to people of faith, that want their government to do more to help financially a woman with a crisis pregnancy, than just by offering her a free elective abortion? And what can we do to praise young families with children so that they know they are so appreciated and are doing the hardest, most awesome job in the world?

Here is a quote from Obama that would remind you of Martin Luther King Jr. "Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society's ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our character." King said "Judge us not by the colour of our skin but by the content of our character."

Such great words from Obama and then this "No single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future..." OK?

And then can I elaborate with Obama on one thing, he says "For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts". Is it OK for a Christian businessman, who really cares about his employees, and decides to pay a single mom a higher hourly wage than a teenage boy doing the same job, just because he knows she has extra obligations and expenses with the children at home? This was called the family wage and there was a justice to it that put the needs of families with children above the demands of the pay equity statisticians.

The Christan scholar and college president, Dinesh D'Souza, in his documentary film, "Obama 2016" makes the reasonable case that Obama used to think American colonialism was the cause of many of the problems in the world. However, I would think that four years in the White House, where Obama constantly had to deal with terror originating outside of America, would help Obama change his mind and conclude America was not the problem after all. Even Michelle Obama commented that over this time her husband has grown to become a great president. (OK she is biased.) But the point is people do change, and it is a Christian distinctive that God holds the heart of the president in his hand.

Obama says "But we have always understood that when times change, so must we..." Obama's theme is that the times they are a-changing.

As an evangelical Christian, my theme is a little different; for me it is this. Our most obvious help on earth are the good things we are taught in the Bible. And that the most rational observation is that the coordinated complexity of life - you know, hormonal feedback mechanisms and the genetic code as computer code - is probably the result of an intelligent design.

As an evangelical Christian, I join with my fellow Christians throughout America and Canada in praying for the good of the nations, and for Obama and Harper and Redford and other world leaders.

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