What’s on your ballot is not really candidates—it’s values. God cares about governments because governments impact people—people He values.
Does God want families and communities free to thrive?
Does God care about rampant crime?
Does God want women and babies protected from harm?
Does God say parents have rights to protect their own children from sexualization?
Does God want people free to speak and to worship?
Does God want His people to do our part to influence the world we live in? – YES! Your vote is a gift–fought for by our country’s founders and the millions of soldiers who died protecting it. Your vote is also a privilege and a duty.
God has asked His people to actively care for others and our world. Yet, recent research says 32 million Christians who regularly attend church are unlikely to vote this election. Almost HALF of all people of faith say they don’t plan to vote. The margin of victory in the swing states during the 2020 presidential election was only about 600,000 votes.
Do you know what this means? If even a tiny percentage of non-voting people of faith would just show up to vote, our country would be restored to basic Biblical values of freedom and strength almost immediately.
The national study by George Barna of Arizona Christian University’s Christian Research Center reveals that the 49% who are not likely to vote in November, represents about 104 million eligible non-voters in the “people of faith” segment. Of those people, it’s predicted that 5 million additional Christians would likely vote if their pastor encouraged them to do so.
Barna said, “[T]he 32 million Christians sitting in the pews each week who refuse to vote are a gamechanger. It’s low hanging fruit for pastors as they try to motivate those congregants to carry out their civic duty and honor God through their influence for things that matter in our culture.”
If Arizona pastors simply encourage their members to vote, it will change everything!
If Arizona church-goers simply encourage each other to vote, it will make a HUGE difference!
One main reason Christians say they don’t vote is because they feel uninformed. Get together with your Bible study groups; grab some friends in your faith circles! Have coffee and discuss together what’s on your ballots. We’re asking people to hold a ‘Ballot Coffee/Party’—just a simple coffee or casual gathering where friends and family can discuss their ballots together and have fun while completing their own ballots, based on their values and accurate information—like our AZWOA Voter Guide.
It is our contention that it is the duty and responsibility of every Christian to vote and to vote for leaders who promote Christian principles. God is most certainly in control, but that does not mean we should do nothing to further His will. We are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). In terms of politics and leadership, there is evidence in Scripture that God has been displeased with our choices of leadership at times (Hosea 8:4). The evidence of sin’s grip on this world is everywhere. Much of the suffering on earth is because of godless leadership (Proverbs 28:12). Scripture gives Christians instructions to obey legitimate authority unless it contradicts the Lord’s commands (Acts 5:27-29; Romans 13:1-7). As born-again believers, we ought to strive to choose leaders who will be themselves led by our Creator (1 Samuel 12:13-25). Candidates or proposals that violate the Bible’s commands for life, family, marriage, or faith should never be supported (Proverbs 14:34). Christians should vote as led through prayer and study of both God’s Word and the realities of the choices on the ballot.
Calling all people of faith!!—This great and free nation was formed by ‘the church’. And it will ONLY be revived by people of the church! EVERY ONE of us must do our part—by prayer, by grace, in truth, through community, in action.
Kim Miller is the President and Founder of Arizona Women of Action. You can find out more about their work here.
If you can’t get people to like your ideas, change the system. That’s the clear agenda behind the Prop 140 scheme that seeks to bring ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries to Arizona. And there’s no more hiding it.
At a recent news conference organized by the Prop 140 campaign, Kimber Lanning—founder and CEO of a group called Local First Arizona that wants to build “equitable” systems for Arizona’s businesses—let the mask slip. Lanning revealed that when other states have adopted the reforms included in Prop 140, they have been able to move forward on transformational ideas like climate action plans and providing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
Wait. Aren’t ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries supposed to lead to more moderation in the government? That’s what the backers of Prop 140 continue to push. But since when did climate action plans and special benefits for illegal immigrants become moderate?
Therin lies the true motivations behind Prop 140. Liberal billionaires from Colorado and others states around the country are pouring millions and millions into Arizona to pass this initiative in an effort to turn Arizona blue. They envision a system anchored around ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries will put them in charge of the political and policy agenda here in Arizona.
And in their zeal for power and control, they don’t even recognize the underlying hubris and irony of their entire campaign…
Federal bureaucrats don’t get a lot of love, but there is at least one — or perhaps a small group — at the FBI who deserve your thanks. Why? Did you see the story about the FBI revising its crime data?
The FBI’s original release of 2022 crime statistics showed a 2.1% decline in violent crime when compared to 2021. This figure never seemed right and was widely questioned, but FBI data is presumed authoritative. Former President Donald Trump often insists crime is rising and the legacy media delighted in throwing the FBI figures back at him.
Whoops. The FBI very quietly released a correction. Crime didn’t fall 2.1%. Violent crime actually rose 4.5%. That’s right, crime rose, just as Trump said. Further, the combined correction of nearly 7%, reversing a 2.1% decline to a 4.5% increase is too large just to be passed off as simple error. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Hamlet, Act I, Scene IV).”
Quite properly, most of the attention given to this bombshell is directed at the rise in crime, the validation of Trump’s claims and the perfidy of the FBI.
Consider that last item. The FBI is vital to national security, yet its leadership down through a few layers of the org chart have been revealed repeatedly as bad. They see what’s going on around the country. They see the crime, yet they allowed that obviously flawed report to go out knowing it would benefit whoever became the Democratic nominee.
If Trump wins, then it is time for the trash to meet the broom.
But there’s another aspect of this story. The corrected figures showing a rise in crime came out just a few weeks before the election, hitting the Harris campaign with yet another mighty gut punch. The FBI could have waited until after the election. Heck, they could have waited until next year.
How did this happen? How did the new truth get past FBI leadership?
Somewhere some likely lifer FBI bureaucrat must have learned the truth. Knowing it would surely destroy their career this person may have told their superiors that if the report weren’t revised and released, if the truth didn’t come out through official channels, then they would go to the press with the correct data and the coverup.
Our hero was likely called to multiple meetings by ever-higher-ups to persuade, dissuade and threaten him or her into getting in line. They would have heard variations of “This isn’t how we do things at the FBI” and “This will destroy your career,” and “By the way, how do your kids like Springfield Elementary?”
Plenty of federal bureaucrats are lazy and useless. Sometimes they are in positions where there is just nothing to do and sometimes they are malicious.
It is a big government. There are bad apples in every barrel. As my former boss used to say: “Bureaucrats are like cockroaches. The trouble is not what they eat, but what they get into.”
But there are also plenty of fine professionals just trying to do a good job often in impossible conditions. They can be found in every department, agency and bureau. I’ve even met them at the Internal Revenue Service, good people struggling to make an incredibly bad system work.
One of those fine professionals is apparently at the FBI. A dedicated stalwart who wouldn’t be bullied, wouldn’t remain silent, who forced the FBI to release the corrected crime statistics before the election. We will likely never know who this person is.
But tonight, when hefting a pint or saying your prayers, speak a few words of thanks that we have such people.
J.D. Foster is a contributor to the Daily Caller News Foundation. He is the former chief economist at the Office of Management and Budget and former chief economist and senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He now resides in relative freedom in the hills of Idaho.
“We are masters of unsaid words, but slaves to those we let slip out.” — Winston Churchill
On Oct. 10, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was with California Gov. Gavin Newsom when he said: “I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go. We need, we need a national popular vote, but that is not the world we live in. So, we need to win in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in Western Michigan and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada, and win.”
Walz said aloud what many in his party have long believed. The Harris campaign was quick to say it did not support abolishing the Electoral College — a controversy they do not want to navigate until in office. But Walz rang this bell, and everyone heard it.
Let us discuss the implications of his mindset.
“The Electoral College needs to go.” A constitutional amendment requires 38 states to agree. It is unlikely even half would vote to abolish the Electoral College, which ensures that candidates visit many states. Fifty percent of Americans live in just 9 states. New York City has more people than 39 of our states, Los Angeles County more than 41. An NPV scheme would reward candidates focused on metropolitan areas. With NPV, locations that provide food and natural resources to these urban areas would truly become “fly over states.”
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Because opponents of the Electoral College will never win the consent of 38 states, leaders of Walz’s party launched this Compact in 2006. It seeks to gain agreement among states to award their Electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. It takes 270 Electoral votes to win the presidency. NPV legislation provides that once the states in the Compact have a total of 270 Electors, it goes into effect the evening of the next presidential election — creating a Constitutional crisis.
Walz Signed the NPV Compact. In the past two years Minnesota and Maine joined the NPV, giving it seventeen states and 209 Electors. These states have one thing in common: one-party control of the House, Senate and governorship. More than 98% of the state legislators voting to join the Compact are of Walz’s party. States in the Compact pledge to direct their Electors to vote for the winner of the national popular vote even if the majority vote of their state must be ignored.
Beaver County, York, Reno and Western Michigan. While in California, which has more than 39 million people, Walz spoke derisively about having to visit Beaver County Pa. (population 168,215), York County, Pa. (456,438), Reno, Nev. (264,165), and Western Michigan because the Electoral College design incentivizes candidates not to ignore these communities. Walz expressed an elitist desire to have urban areas rule. One might ask him, are our major cities so safe and well-managed they should become the sole arbiters of the affairs of our Republic?
How Heads of Government Are Elected in Other Republics. Walz is oblivious to the fact that how we elect our president is more “democratic” than most other republics. Of the 27 countries in the European Union, only France and Cypress use a national popular vote to elect their heads of government. The other 25 elect their heads of government in their parliaments. The same goes for Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Churchill was never on the ballot of all Englishmen, only his constituency. Parliament elected him prime minister.
“Whoever gets the most runs wins.” The Minnesota Twins have won the World Series on two occasions: 1987 and 1991. In 1991 the Twins won 4 of 7 games to clinch the series, even though the Twins had a total of 24 runs in those 7 games, the Atlanta Braves a total of 29.
Is that fair? Most sports focus on the most games won, not the most points. Our states provide 50 electoral competitions — 50 games if you will. We then aggregate those contests to choose our leader. Ingenious!
“Whoever gets the most votes wins.” Walz’s comment is filled with irony. President Joseph Biden is the only person who in 2024 has received Democratic popular votes for president. “Whoever wins no votes wins?”
The Electoral College incentivizes candidates to visit most states, including their rural communities. The winning candidates are those who visit and listen to a wide swath of this vast nation and her people. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. And, so, it is with our own Electoral College.
Michael Maibach is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation and a Distinguished Fellow on American Federalism at Save Our States. He is also a Trustee and the Managing Director of the James Wilson Institute. www.SaveOurStates.comwww.jameswilsoninstitute.org
The dead-end hyperinflationary policies of the Biden-Harris administration have put the American Dream out of reach for many young people. I have talked to my 21-year-old daughter about this so many times that it breaks my heart.
Ruby, like so many young Americans, is doing everything right. She works hard, she saves up, but that old-fashioned notion of the white-picket fence seems to be slipping away from her grasp. Part of the reason I am running for Senate is to make America affordable again. And I know that bringing down out-of-control housing prices is the key to restoring access to the American Dream for our young people.
Per Federal Reserve data, in 1984, the median U.S. household income was $22,400 and the median home price was $78,200, or about 3.5 times the median income. By 2022, median household income had risen to $74,580, but median home prices had risen to over $433,000 — or nearly six times median income.
Elected officials owe it to our constituents to take clear and decisive action to reduce housing costs.
There has been so much focus on the role of interest rates, but the answer to bringing them back down, while hard to achieve, is fairly straightforward: the federal government needs to stop printing money we don’t have so that it can pay bills that we can’t afford. Taming that imbalance won’t be quick or easy, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a bill of goods.
But there is another key element of the housing crisis that we can address quickly and effectively: a lack of skilled tradespeople. According to an analysis by Associated Builders and Contractors, the United States is short over half a million skilled construction workers. The lack of skilled construction workers combined with rapidly increasing costs of materials is creating a roadblock to building the millions of additional housing units that are needed to relieve the cost bottleneck.
Bringing down the cost of materials largely hinges on three things: reducing the price of energy and fuel, eliminating excessive regulations created by the Biden-Harris administration, and increasing the number of skilled workers available to producers. Limitations on oil-and-gas production and refining are leading to rapidly increasing fuel and energy costs that have inflated the price of building materials by tens of thousands of dollars per home.
Likewise, excessive regulation and DEI mandates being forced on producers by the Biden-Harris administration are also increasing materials and labor costs, without appreciable benefit to society in terms of reduced inequality. Lastly, the rush to send every high school graduate to a four-year college, with massive government subsidies, is draining the workforce of skilled tradespeople which both increases the cost of construction and delays additional new home starts.
Solving the first two problems is very simple. Replace President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with Donald Trump, overturn the current administration’s pointless and counterproductive executive mandates, and you are two thirds of the way there. The last step — increasing the number of skilled construction workers — is going to take more effort.
But with some simple changes in federal education funding and policy, we can turn that deficit around in a matter of just a few years by revising federal education funding and loans to stop discriminating against trade schools and technical education and support the development of a skilled workforce sufficient to meet the demands of our housing market.
First, we need to revise the guidelines for Pell grants to allow them to be issued and used for more students to attend trade and technical schools. Second, if the government is going to continue to back student loans, eligibility for those loans needs to be aggressively expanded to include more trade schools.
Currently, trade-school students can access government-backed student loans, but only if their trade school is federally accredited. Many are not. Getting the vast majority of trade schools nationwide accredited so their students have access to government-backed loans should be a major priority for the next administration and will be a priority of mine in the U.S. Senate.
Lastly, the government needs to aggressively partner with industry to expand trade school opportunities by making low-interest loans available to companies and unions to invest in new and expanded trade and technical-school facilities.
The cost to attend trade and technical schools is far less than the cost of a four-year degree, and the returns on that investment are astronomical. A few thousand dollars of up-front investment in these careers yields a lifetime of high earnings, and resultant increased tax revenues. As a result, investing in expanding our skilled workforce is responsible governance, and must be a priority going forward.
Free speech is dying in schools. Ian Prior with America First posted on X that the Loudoun County School Board Chair recently shut down public comment to “combat misinformation.” The Chair claimed that misinformation is rising, and the board must be vigilant in actively combating it. Since COVID, parents have taken to the microphone at Loudon County Public Schools (LCPS) board meetings nationwide to make public comments. Some respectfully, and some in outrage, have sought to hold the governing board accountable for unthinkable, immoral school incidents and an apparent reckless disregard for core academics.
Take, for example, another LCPS board meeting. A female student’s father became agitated about her daughter’s alleged recent assault in the girls’ bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt. When the LCPS Superintendent Scott Ziegler spoke up in response, he asserted that “the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist” and that “we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.” According to Fox News, a judge found the boy guilty, and the father filed a lawsuit against the school.
Suppression of free speech seems to be “in the air,” and it’s frightening to discover that some conservatives, once the bastion of free speech defenders, are taking on an authoritarian posture. School board members have been known to tell community members not to make public comments at their board meetings. Everyone has the right to sign up to make public comments under open meetings law while respecting board protocols and decorum when making comments.
Recently, in North Carolina, after making public comments at a board meeting, Pastor John Amanchukwu was put in handcuffs and escorted out. Amanchukwu travels the country speaking at school board meetings to defend public school kids from dangerous woke culture in the classroom. Maybe in a different style, he did what hundreds or thousands of us nationwide did when making public comments at school board meetings. He asserted that the Board allowing pornographic content and discussions on gender identity in schools was a violation of parental rights.
Free speech may not always be welcomed by the hearer, but we are entitled to our opinions. The freedom to speak up about issues of concern is a hallowed right unique in human history, as expressed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It safeguards speech in the press, at an assembly, and the right to petition the government from governmental interference. Its protections include what we say and wear on a hat, a T-shirt, a sign, and other symbols. Yes, even at school board meetings.
However, freedom of speech appears to be eroding across the board, including on social media platforms. And this affects all issues of concern, including education. The recent SCOTUS case (Manhattan Community Access Corporation v. Halleck) determined that while freedom of speech applies to federal, state, and local governments, the First Amendment does not govern private entities. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that this ruling is being applied to social media platforms. They are exempt from the responsibilities of a publisher. Yet, Facebook and other social media can regulate or restrict speech hosted on their platforms by manipulating algorithms to favor their friends and harm their enemies.
In addition to honestly examining whether our right to free speech is being infringed, we should also determine whether we are operating out of mutual respect when it comes to the free speech of others despite everyday differences of opinion. For example, what is the real reason that the Loudon County Public School Board decided to shut down certain kinds of speech at board meetings? Well, for one thing, in doing so, they are shutting down dissent. Government entity or not, this differs from where we should go as a society.
Tamra Farah has twenty years of experience in public policy and politics, focusing on protecting individual liberty and promoting limited government.
