Newt was Right (by Dick Morris)

In the 1980s, the pre-Blair leftist Labor Party issued its campaign manifesto to oppose Thatcher's Conservatives in the coming national election. Its loony, leftist proposals were so extreme that the Tory media promptly dubbed it "the longest suicide note in history."



The Republican proposal to shift Medicare from the current system to a voucher-based program of private insurance - in TEN years - falls into the same category. Don't blame Newt Gingrich for saying so. In fact, we have to hope that Romney, Bachmann, Daniels and the other candidates join him in distancing himself from the plan if we have a hope of electing any of them president!



Worse, the Ryan budget continues the $500 billion in Medicare cuts which formed the basis of the Republican critique of Pelosi and Obama in the 2010 election. It keeps the money in the Medicare system rather than spending it on other entitlements as Obama did, but that is scant compensation for someone seeking care now to stay alive!



(When I first endorsed Ryan's plan in a column and video, I was under the impression - as he had told me - that he would eliminate the $500 billion cut. I must have misunderstood him because his plan keeps that very cut on which we based our entire 2012 campaign. When I found that out, I switched to opposing his plan).



Gingrich was entirely correct in denouncing this part of the Ryan Budget. The rest of the document is fine. But Obama has, as we predicted he would, focused all his fire on the Medicare portion and that is what the campaign of 2012 will be about - unless the GOP candidate for president disavows the plan.



And the height of lunacy is that the Medicare voucher-based conversion is slated to take effect in a decade! Who can predict how medicine will evolve next week let along a decade hence? To hold the Republican Party's political fortunes hostage to a program that might or might not take effect in a decade is pure insanity.



So Gingrich called it what it is - "right wing social engineering." Granted, Paul Ryan has the best of intentions. He wants to keep the Medicare system solvent in the face of escalating costs, but even he concedes that changing Medicare is not necessary over the next nine years to reduce the budget deficit. It is only in 2021, when those who are now 55 turn to Medicare that he would effect his changes. The House should drop the Medicare part of the program, repeal the $500 billion cut that the Republicans vilified in the campaign, and go ahead and implement the rest of the Ryan budget.


Newt has acted responsibly and in the best interests of the Party by describing accurately what the stakes are. Don't blame him. Honor him for saying and doing the right thing.

it amazes me how with just ONE SINGLE headline, many within the conservative/tea party are so willing to change an opinion without EVER knowing WHY.

OMG, Newt railroaded Ryan!

Newt's a RINO.

etc...

yet... when you look at the BASIS for what Newt said, its right there in black and white.

Am I opposed to Ryan? NO! but I also dont buy into the notion that ANY politician is above reproach... make up your own minds.

Freedom and Maturity

Its been three weeks since I was completely and utterly delivered from pornography at the Men’s campout. Since then, it seems things have begun to accelerate in the pace at which I am seeing God move in my life. Two weeks ago, I went to Fire Meeting where the Word was spoken over me, “be faithful in the little things, and He will MAKE you a ruler over much.” Those words have been stuck in the forefront of my mind since. Many times, I question what the little things are at that particular moment, for I know that God will often bring something to us that we don’t expect just to see if we are hearing Him in the midst of the journey. One of these things has been Psalms 100 verse 4. Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and his courts with Praise. It seems fitting that this would be a revelation to me since just a matter of days before I was delivered from a chain that had haunted me for more than a decade. The other thing that has quickened my spirit is Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now at first glance there are two ways to view this passage. The first is to view “poor in spirit” as being gentle, or humble. But such a thing limits the passage because just a couple verses later it says blessed are the meek. So it isn’t just about being gentle or humble. The other way to view this passage is to acknowledge that is just doesn’t make sense on the surface. “Poor in spirit” implies impoverished, poor, lack of wealth. Impoverished in spirit seemingly doesn’t make sense because (at least the way the natural eye sees it) this would mean those people who simply don’t have the substance to see, to hear, to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. So when I began asking God for revelation of this passage He began to show me that to be poor is to know your condition. For the word poor here literally means in the Greek “beggarly”. To beg is to know what it is you lack and ask for it from another. And that’s when this passage came alive to me. Blessed are those who know their true spiritual condition before a Holy God. Blessed are those who ask, plead, beg for what they lack from the uncreated one.

These two things have gripped my heart the last two weeks. Because it is KNOWING where I stand before the Holy One, and the genuine thankfulness of His Grace that leads me to be propelled into His presence! And as I seek Him with this in mind, I stay mindful of “be faithful in the little things.” And it is amazing to see how once I TRULY shift my perspective from trying to learn about Him carnally, to being desperate for Him spiritually… that things begin to fall like a line of dominos.

I went to Fire Meeting again two nights ago (we have them bi-weekly) and again I received a Word. It was the declaration that God was going to begin to awaken NEW dreams, NEW desires, NEW longings… one at a time. This word again comforted me, reaffirming that maturity was being gained. Ground was being taken. Territory was being won, where once it was under the enemies control. And then something happened that I did not expect. I began walking in the slightest bit of authority. And the absolute FREEDOM I felt walking in something I KNEW was from God, was one of the most fulfilling things I can remember in recent memory. To put it bluntly… it was addicting. And that’s fine, for shouldn’t we be addicted to purpose? To God? To freedom?

Be faithful in the little things. Yesterday after church, God truly astounded me by using me to minister to three different people all facing different things. Some minor, some major. And there was an odd feeling as I prayed to God for wisdom concerning each one. I felt unworthy, yet profoundly confident in what I was counseling them in. Unworthy, for who am I to be used in such a way as to counsel another in areas of life I myself am just beginning to walk in. And yet profoundly confident in that I knew that it was not MY wisdom which I was speaking, but God’s wisdom. And this was a huge confirmation concerning what was spoken over me just two nights ago, that I would only be comfortable in ministry when operating while under the Anointing.

It seems like a polar opposite concerning my pursuit of God… where before I tried so hard to get in His presence and felt like I was banging my head on the wall, now I feel as though it is profoundly simple and I receive exponentially more than I have before! It’s amazing how close you can get to Him when you don’t have a chain wrapped around your feet, waist, hands and neck! Remember, true love brings FREEDOM!