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Brazilian Pentecostals: Church Growth Endangered by Socialist Embrace By Julio Severo The Associated Press published a curious report on Brazil this week. The report said, Pentecostalism was once seen as a major threat to Brazil’s Catholic Church. Pentecostal churches, many of them founded by U.S. evangelicals, saw their membership double to more than 12 percent of the country's population over the 1990s, with about half of the congregants estimated to be former Catholics. During the 1990s, Brazil’s economy suffered from hyperinflation and other woes, and Pentecostal churches aggressively recruited in the slums and poor outskirts of Brazil’s cities by...

Today, the Treasury announced that it expects the federal government to reach the debt ceiling near the end of this year. Matthew Rutherford, the assistant secretary for financial markets at the treasury said that “treasury has the authority to take certain extraordinary measures to give Congress more time to act to ensure we are able to meet the legal obligations of the United States.” This announcement corresponds with a recent letter sent to Treasury on October 15th by Senators Hatch and Sessions asking what plan the government has to prevent defaulting on its obligations. While Treasury has stated it can...

UN Agencies Ask Brazilian President to Criminalize “Homophobia” By Julio Severo The Expanded Theme Group on HIV/AIDS in Brazil (GT/UNAIDS), in joint partnership with national and international groups, sent a 16 October letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and other Brazilian authorities, requesting priority on efforts to criminalize “homophobia.” The letter was signed by GT/UNAIDS and its members: USAID, UNHCR, ILO, UN Women, CDCs, PAHO/WHO, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNODC. Other signatories include the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Human Rights Special Secretariat of the Brazilian Presidency, and ABGLT, the largest homosexualist group in Brazil. The letter...

A New Reformation to Counter-Attack the Great Gates of Hell? Martin Luther warns modern-day parents By Julio Severo Upon signing the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams stated: “This day, I trust, the reign of political Protestantism will commence.” The 56 signers were mostly Protestant. According to New York University Professor Emeritus Patricia Bonomi: “The colonists were about 98 percent Protestant.” British Statesman Edmund Burke addressed Parliament, 1775: “All Protestantism… is a sort of dissent. But the religion most prevalent in our Northern Colonies is a refinement on the principle of resistance; it is the dissidence of dissent, and the...

If memory serves me correctly - there was a news clip in the early part of the Obama term where he addressed the lack of bipartisan support for health care. He said something to the effect "We won - you lost, get over it". I have been searching for the clip and cannot find anything. Was this my imagination - does anyone else recall this event? ... Please help an old man with his memory ... ;-)

As a service to the public, Americans for Tax Reform has released a projected tax form to help families and tax specialists prepare for the additional filing requirement required by the Affordable Healthcare Act's individual mandate. Starting in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form. The new form requires disclosure of a taxpayer’s personal identifying health information in order to determine compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. As confirmed by IRS testimony to the tax-writing House Committee on Ways and Means, “taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health...

1.47% is the average popular vote difference between presidential candidates in the last three electoral inversions (electoral vote winner is not popular vote winner.) There have been four electoral inversions in US history: 2000, 1888, 1876 and 1824. This calculation excludes 1824 because (1) four candidates won electoral votes, (2) the winner was decided by the House of Representatives because no candidate won a majority of the electoral votes, and (3) some states did not conduct popular votes. Summary: 2000: Gore: 48.4%. Bush: 47.9%. Diff.: 0.5%. 1888: Cleveland: 48.6%. Harrison: 47.8%. Diff.: 0.8%. 1876: Tilden: 51.0%. Hayes: 47.9%. Diff.: 3.1%....

Undocumented immigrants are surviving tougher immigration laws implemented in Georgia and other southern states by utilizing a surprising tool: social media. It has become an instrument to help them navigate the streets and remain undetected by police. Mario Sevilla, 24, is a construction worker; his day begins at 5 a.m. His five brothers and sisters live in Sonora, Mexico, and they all rely on the money that he can earn and wire back home. Lately, Sevilla has used social media to risk-taking road trips as far away as Tennessee to get to work. “The first thing that I do in...

The U.S. corporate income tax is the highest in the developed world. When state corporate taxes are factored in, the U.S. has the highest corporate income tax rate in the world at 39.2 percent. America not only has a higher rate than the developed nation (OECD) average; we have a higher rate than each of our chief trading competitors: Country Corporate Income Tax Rate United States 39.2% OECD Average 25% Canada 27.6% Mexico 30% Japan 35% Germany 30.2% United Kingdom 26% France 34.4% Obama claims to be for corporate tax reform, but his plan is actually a net tax hike....

A lot of discussion has been made on the specifics of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney’s tax and budget plans. Based on statements made by both presidential candidates and CBO projections, it can be concluded that there is a drastic difference between their plans. Our friends at the Tax Foundation have constructed a fun and convenient chart comparing the topline tax and budget positions of President Obama and Governor Romney:

In a recent campaign stop in Nevada, Vice President Biden attacked Gov. Romney for signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to oppose and veto any tax increases. During his speech, Biden purposely distorted the meaning of the Pledge by saying: “These guys signed a pledge to Grover Norquist, instead they should sign a pledge to you, the middle-class people.” As Americans for Tax Reform has repeatedly pointed out, the language of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is quite clear. The Pledge is a personal, written commitment by an elected official to taxpayers. The Pledge is made in writing to voters before a...

Today a letter was sent to the President and members of Congress by 15 CEOs from some of the largest financial institutions in the U.S. The 15 CEOs who signed the letter represent the Financial Services Forum, a non-partisan organization that deals specifically with financial and economic policy. In the letter, they urge for the avoidance of the coming Taxmageddon and warn of the dire effects that inaction would have on the economy: “The consequences of inaction—for stability in global financial markets, for economic growth, for millions of Americans still without work, and for the financial circumstances of American businesses...

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, President Obama dedicated a substantial amount of time arguing that he, in fact, is a huge advocate of traditional energy – coal, natural gas, and oil. In reality, during the past four years Americans have watched gasoline prices double, the Keystone Pipeline needlessly killed, and the phasing out of coal-fired electricity. While these industries employ millions of Americans, the implications of Obama’s policies affect every American energy consumer. With fewer offshore lease sales, Obama’s has all but assured higher prices at the pump. With less coal being converted into power, Obama has all but assured higher...

On November 6th the people of Michigan will go to polls and vote whether to enshrine collective bargaining in the state constitution or allow Michigan’s legislature to retain control of its state. The simple fact is that Proposition 2 will give Big Labor free reign over a range of issues and will allow them to essentially veto anything they don’t like. According the Mackinac Institute, Proposition 2 could potentially cost the taxpayers of Michigan billions in savings. Current laws that could be affected include: Health insurance premium sharing. Recent legislation protects taxpayers from paying lavish government employee health insurance premiums....

1. Obama: “Four years ago, I told the American people I would cut taxes for middle class families. And I did.” Reality: Obama has clearly broken his 2008 “firm pledge” not to sign “any form of tax increase” on families making less than $250,000. Of the twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare, no fewer than seven of the taxes fall directly on middle class families, and many more will raise costs indirectly for these families. Of recent note, Obama has altered his tax pledge: In a second term, he only promises not to raise income taxes on those making...

Obama’s essential voting blocs have waning enthusiasm to vote next month and they are reporting this lack of excitement to pollsters around the country. … African Americans Hispanics and Young voters are substantially less likely to turnout to vote. In accessing Obama’s situation the Left has fallen back to the straw man position of “Well of course Obama is winning among African Americans, Hispanics and Young voters.” ……but his winning these groups is a given. The question is how much will their winning margins help carry Obama total vote count? “..survey shows Republican enthusiasm at 13 points higher than Democrat...

The Obama-Biden tax plan calls for a hike in the small business tax rate from 35 percent today to over 40 percent next year. President Obama and his supporters will often argue that “only” three percent of small business owners will be affected by his tax rate hike. While this is true, it masks the fact that this is a tax increase on one million successful small businesses (i.e. three percent of the 30 million small business tax returns filed annually). The Obama-Biden plan will raise taxes on a majority of small business profits and hit those companies which employ...

Despite President Obama’s promise that the deficit would be cut in half by the end of his first term, the CBO’s recent report of a $1.1 trillion deficit for FY 2012 will mark the fourth consecutive trillion dollar deficit year under this administration. As election-day nears, President Obama’s track record continues to be tarnished with his failure to keep his promises on taxes, healthcare, and now the deficit. The economic statistics compiled by the CBO reflect the current administration’s incompetency in key areas:    Before  Now  Change  Long-Term Unemployed1  2.7 Million 4.8 Million   +78%  Price of Gas2  $1.85  $3.85  +108%...

Please pass this on to anyone you know who is not yet committed to voting for a particular candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Now more than ever, America needs them to make the right choice on November 6...

The Romney-Ryan tax plan gets a jumpstart on fundamental tax reform. To do this, the plan would lower all marginal income tax rates by 20 percent. To pay for this rate reduction, the Romney-Ryan tax plan would broaden the income tax base, but only for high earners. Below is how three typical middle-income households will fare under the Romney-Ryan tax plan (each household is assumed to use the standard deduction and personal exemptions/child tax credit): Family of Four earning the median income:Adjusted gross income: $70,000 Federal income tax under present rules: $3,581 Federal income tax under Romney-Ryan: $2,465 Annual Tax...