GOP Billionaires Back Their GOP Presidential Candidate

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani gained the endorsement Wednesday of a former GOP candidate - billionaire publisher and flat-tax proponent Steve Forbes. [Read More]

On the same day, the Arkansas Republican Party released an announcement of a Rockefeller fund raiser for Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee. The event will be hosted by Lisenne Rockefeller, wife of deceased Arkansas Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller who was also the Unofficial Ambassador of Goodwill for Arkansas to the World. Both Win and Lisenne are beloved by Arkansans.

Huckabee For President Fundraiser
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2007 Time: 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Location: Home of Lisenne Rockefeller
3518 Hill Road, Little Rock, AR 72205
Ticket Price: $1000 per couple/$500 per person
Attire: Business Casual
Contact: Jason Brady -jason.brady@explorehuckabee.com 501-324-2008 (w)
Address: Huckabee for President Exploratory Committee
P.O. Box 2008, Little Rock, AR 72203
Please make checks payable to: Huckabee for President Exploratory Committee, Inc.
Corporations, foreign nationals without green cards, federal contractors, and minors (under 18 years of age) are prohibited from contributing. Contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. The maximum contribution per individual is $2,300 per election. Therefore, a couple may contribute up to $4,600 per election. Multi-candidate PACs may contribute up to $5,000 per election.

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Tags: Lisenne Rockefeller, Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate, Republican, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Forbes To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Al Gore on Global Warming --Humor

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Tags: Al Gore, global warming, political humor To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

With five private jets, Travolta suggests other planets & domes for global warming solutions

London's The Evening Standard: His serious aviation habit means he is hardly the best person to lecture others on the environment. But John Travolta went ahead and did it anyway. The 53-year-old actor, a passionate pilot, encouraged his fans to "do their bit" to tackle global warming. ... Clocking up at least 30,000 flying miles in the past 12 months means he has produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions – nearly 100 times the average Briton's tally. Travolta made his comments at the British premiere of his movie, Wild Hogs. ...

Travolta, a Scientologist, claimed the solution to global warming could be found in outer space and blamed his hefty flying mileage on the nature of the movie business. ... "It [global warming] is a very valid issue," Travolta declared. "I'm wondering if we need to think about other planets and dome cities. ... Travolta's five private planes – a customized Boeing 707, three Gulf-stream jets and a Lear jet – are kept at the bottom of his garden in the US next to a private runway. [Read More]

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Tags: global warming, hypocrisy, John Travolta, Scientologist

Animal Cruelty Bills Fail

KFSM CH5 reported that HB2788 making extreme cruelty to cats, dogs and horses a felony on a second offense failed to get out of a Senate committee today -- even after a senator amended it to make the crime a felony on the first offense. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee offered an amendment to make the crime a felony on the first conviction. However, senators chose not to bring the bill up for a vote today -- effectively killing the legislation this session. The bill, by Rep. Rick Saunders (D-Hot Springs), came after a similar Senate bill (SB777 ) failed twice this week to make it out of a House committee. In addition, Saunder's HB1123 (An act to protect pets) failed to get out of a House Committee.

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Tags: Animal Cruelty, Arkansas, Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, Rick Sanders To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Senate OKs SB19 banning teens from using cell phones while driving

KFSM Ch 5 reported that drivers under 18 would be banned from using cell phones while behind the wheel under a bill approved today by the Arkansas Senate (27-2). SB19, by Senator Kim Hendren (R-Gravette) comes after a bill placing new restrictions on young drivers failed in the House. Hendren says his bill will help remove distractions for young drivers while they're first learning to drive. The bill has been sent to the House.

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Tags: Arkansas, Cell phones, Kim Hendren, teen driving

Boozman Submits Names for U.S. Attorney Post

KATV Ch7: Arkansas Congressman John Boozman (R-3rd District) has provided to the White House the names of three people whom he considers suitable for the U.S. attorney's post in eastern Arkansas. Congressman Boozman forwarded the names of former acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Betty Dickey, Little Rock lawyer Jason B. Hendren and state Representative Michael Lamoureux, a Republican from Russellville.

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Tags: John Boozman, Republican, US Attorneys, US Congress

Report Finds 600,000 Illegal Immigrant Cases Backlogged

Government Cannot Account for Fugitives’ Whereabouts

by Hunter Holcombe, Homeland Security Weekly: Adding fuel to the fire that has engulfed the political issue of illegal immigration, a new report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general has found that the government is struggling to keep up with an enormous backlog of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. According to the report, at least 600,000 deportation cases are due for processing, and the government cannot account for these fugitives’ whereabouts. ... estimates put the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. at nearly 12 million, and the report cites there was a backlog of 623,292 cases in August, 2006. ... [Read More]

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Tags: deportation cases, Homeland Security, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants

Update: HB2779 Arkansas Taxpayer & Citizen Protection Act (Illegal Alien Bill) Before Senate

UPDATE: HB2779The Arkansas Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007 simply reads: Concealing persons illegally in the United States.
(a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly perform an overt act designed to conceal, harbor, or shelter from detection another person in any place, including without limitation any building or means of transportation, knowing that the other person has come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.
(b) Upon conviction, any person violating subsection (a) of this section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

The bill often nicknamed the "Illegal Alien Bill" deals with purposely sheltering or harboring an illegal alien in Arkansas. The bill miraculously cleared the Arkansas House Judiciary Committee yesterday and the passed the House today with a vote of 62-25 and has been sent to the Senate. Please call the Senate Switchboard at 501-682-2902 and leave a message with your Senator (you can leave a message for at least two senators) asking them to vote "FOR" HB2779, the Illegal Alien bill by John Woods. Then email every senator now!

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Tags: Arkansas, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, taxpayer protection

Flying Imams Shield Law Passes The House

House Republicans tonight surprised Democrats with a procedural vote to protect public-transportation passengers from being sued if they report suspicious activity—the first step by lawmakers to protect “John Doe” airline travelers already targeted in such a lawsuit. After a heated debate and calls for order, the motion to recommit the Democrats’ Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 back to committee with instructions to add the protective language passed on a vote of 304-121. (editorial note: Although the debate was heated, the provision proved extremely popular among Republicans and nearly half of the Democrats.)

Republicans said the lawsuit filed by six Muslim imams against US Airways and “John Does,” passengers who reported suspicious behavior, could have a “chilling effect” on passengers who may fear being sued for acting vigilant. Rep. Peter T. King, (R-NY) the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, offered the motion saying all Americans—airline passengers included—must be protected from lawsuits if they report suspicious behavior that may foreshadow a terrorist attack. . . . [Read More]

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Tags: Arkansas Federation of Republican Women, House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, Public Transportation Act, Shield Law To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

NOW Demands Access to Program Geared to Fathers

By Christopher Lee, Washington Post: It's called the Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Initiative, and the Bush administration doles out up to $50 million annually to fund its programs to build job skills and help fathers connect better with their children. But the National Organization for Women says the effort is illegal because it's only about men. . . . [Read More]


FRC Response: If NOW were truly an equal-opportunity watchdog, why hasn't its leadership launched a similar grievance against the FDA? Where is NOW's campaign for an Office of People's Health? Unfortunately, their anti-father crusade only exposes the group's true agenda--to treat fathers as having no special role to play in children's lives. As HHS says, "Helping men become better fathers will benefit women and children too."

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Tags: FRC, NOW, Responsible Fatherhood

Rep. Boozman Supports Bill to End Chain Migration

U.S. Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) has become the sixteenth Member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 938, The Nuclear Family Priority Act, which would eliminate the policy that has been most responsible for immigration quadrupling from around 250,000 a year in the 1950s and 1960s to more than one million a year since 1990. Under chain migration, distant relatives well outside an immigrant’s basic family unit take priority over husbands, wives, parents and minor children. ... [Read More] See also: Boozman's A+ Report Card by the Americans for Better Immigration

If you agree with reinstating traditional immigration and want to reduce the chances of terrorists slipping past overworked immigration officials, click here to send a fax to your US Representative asking him/her to join Rep. Boozman in co-sponsoring The Nuclear Family Priority Act.

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Tags: chain migration, immigration reform, John Boozman

SB264 Hate Crime Bill Reworded but Has the Same Problem

SB264 formerly as proposed Hate Crimes bill SB264 filed by Senator Hank Wilkins, IV (D-Pine Bluff) has been amended to attempt to water down the bill. However, its description and definition of what constitutes Hate Speech and actions which is now " CERTAIN OFFENSES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES" leaves open legal ramifications to limit free speech on serious differences between what one group calls "sin" and another much smaller group now calls "morally acceptable."

What's in store for us if this bill passes? Consider that earlier this month, San Francisco's United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the matter of Good News Employees Association v. Hicks that the municipal employers can completely censor the terms "natural family," "marriage" and "family values" as hate speech. Lawyers argued that the words 'natural family, marriage and family values' constitute 'hate speech' that could intimidate city of Oakland workers.

The reworded Arkansas Hate Crime Bill passed the Senate and is now before the House Judiciary Committee. Call the House switchboard 501-682-6211 and leave a message for your Representatives and ask him/her to vote "AGAINST" SB 69 the now reworded bill titled: "TO ENHANCE THE PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES." Send emails to all representatives. The contact information is identified in the links below for the House Judiciary Committee and all representatives. Don't let your guard down on this nefarious bill! Members of Judiciary Committee- House and Representatives
Read & Share: Twenty Five Reasons to Oppose AR Hate Crime Bill by Senator Wilkins
Also Review prior postings: Five reasons to oppose hate crime bills and Hate Crimes Bill SB264 - Why be Concerned?

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Tags: Arkansas, Hate Crime Bill, hate crimes

SB69 - Limiting Scope of Eminent Domain Powers in Arkansas

SB69 - An Act to Limit the Scope of Eminent Domain Powers to Protect Property Owners' Rights in Arkansas passed the Senate (18-9) yesterday. It will go before the House Judiciary Committee, a tough committee, tomorrow. The bill is sponsored by Ruth Whitaker and co-sponsored in the House R Green, Pyle, Walters, D. Creekmore, Buris, Edwards, Key, Sample, Hardwick, Woods, Cornwell, and D. Hutchinson.

Call the House switchboard 501-682-6211 and leave a message for your Representatives and ask him/her to vote "FOR" SB 69 the Eminent Domain Bill Protecting Property Rights by Whitaker. Send emails to all representatives. The contact information is identified in the links below for the House Judiciary Committee and all representatives. At the end of the session there are so many bills flying around that even those you know will vote the way you want them to need to be contacted so they will be aware of the bill and be able to talk to others about it and won't be caught off guard. Members of Judiciary Committee- House and Representatives

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Tags: Arkansas, Eminent Domain, property rights

Global warming heresy

by Dr. Walter E. Williams: Most climatologists agree that the earth's temperature has increased about a degree over the last century. The debate is how much of it is due to mankind's activity. Britain's Channel 4 television has just produced "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a documentary that devastates most of the claims made by the environmentalist movement. The scientists interviewed include top climatologists from MIT and other prestigious universities around the world. The documentary hasn't aired in the U.S., but it's available on the Internet. Among the many findings that dispute environmentalists' claims are: Manmade carbon dioxide emissions are roughly 5 percent of the total; the rest are from natural sources such as volcanoes, dying vegetation and animals. Annually, volcanoes alone produce more carbon dioxide than all of mankind's activities . . . [Read More]

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Tags: global warming, Walter E. Williams

Flake-Gutierrez immigration legislation is nothing less that Amnesty for millions of Illegals [Listen to Audio]

By Steve Elliot: Grassfire has just gotten a peek at the Flake-Gutierrez immigration legislation that is essentially the House version of the Kennedy-McCain Immigration Reform legislation. The bill has been hailed by Sen. Kennedy as being "a tough but fair bill that strikes the right balance between protecting our security, [and] strengthening our economy."

Make no mistake. This bill is thinly veiled amnesty and will adversely affect our wages, employment opportunities, communities, schools, environment and quality of life by dramatically increasing immigration levels in the U.S. Audio update from Steve Elliott and Ron De Jong with the truth about the Flake-Gutierrez "amnesty legislation".
[Read More]

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Tags: amnesty, Flake-Gutierrez immigration bill, Grassfire.org, illegal immigration, Ron De Jong, Steve Elliot To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Interspecies Cloning a Baaaaad Idea

by Tony Perkins: If the U.S. doesn't move quickly to regulate the new trend of inter-species cloning, it's safe to say that researchers will experiment until the cows come home. In the U.K., some already have. Since human eggs are in short supply, researchers in Britain applied for permission to create human-cow embryos. In America, scientists are not even required to ask for permission--because no such restrictions exist! At the University of Nevada, Professor Esmail Zanjani has joined the ranks of Harvard and Yale scientists who have taken advantage of the lack of government scrutiny. This week, Zanjani announced that his team has created the world's first human-sheep chimera, whose cellular make-up is 15% human and 85% animal. [Read More] See Also: Half man half sheep

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Tags: Cloning, FRC, interspecies cloning, Tony Perkins

HB2489 Credit for the UN IBP Program Failed in Committee

HB2489, a bill mandating at least 24 hours college credit to high school graduates receiving the UN's IBP Diploma, failed to get out of the House Education Committee. There were eight votes for it, and it needed eleven. Two members were absent and two voted Present. Following is the list of legislators who voted No and Yes. Rep. Horace Hardwick, who sponsored the bill, had six Democrats and two Republicans to vote with him on the bill. He had three Republicans to vote against him.

No votes that kept it from getting out of committee: Rep. Mark Martin, Rep Tommy Dickenson, Rep. James Norton, Curren Everett, Rep. Eric Harris, Rep. Sid Rosenbaum, Representative David Rainey, and Rep. Toni Bradford. Yes votes who voted for Hardwick's bill: Rep. Betty Pickett, Rep. Janet Johnson, Rep. Shirley Walters, Rep. Michael Lamoureux, Rep. Nancy Blount, Rep. Rick Saunders, Rep. David Cook, Rep. Eddie Cheatham. Absent: Jeff Wood and Benny Petrus. Voted Present: Mike Kenney & Bill Abernathy.

ARRA Info: ARRA contacted sources in the AR Dept of Higher Education and AR Assoc of Two-Year Colleges before the vote. Sources related that if the bill were to pass out of the House Education Committee, ADHE would seek an Attorney General opinion on the constitutionality of the proposed bill. All sources indicated they were against any bill that would mandate college credit for a high school program.

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Tags: Arkansas, civil unions, House Education Committee, IBP

Democratic lawmakers to reintroduce Equal Rights Amendment

CNSNews.com: Liberal Democrats in the Senate and House plan to resume "the fight for women's equality" on Tuesday, when they reintroduce the Women's Equality Amendment. Sens. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both of New York, plan to join Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, in making the Tuesday afternoon announcement. This time around, supporters say they hope "women will finally achieve official equality in America." But a conservative group said women's rights activists are "fighting old battles" . . . [Read More]

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Tags: Barbara Boxer, Carolyn Maloney, Democrat, ERA, Jerrold Nadler, Senate, Ted Kennedy, US Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gore ignores real 'planetary emergency'

By Mychal Massie: Nedra Pickler, writing for the AP wrote, "[Al] Gore...testified before House and Senate panels about a 'true planetary emergency' if Congress fails to act. He [added that] addressing the problem is a moral issue and should not be partisan or political." (Gore Implores Congress to Save Planet; 3/21/07). I may not be endowed with auditory enablers the size of a certain liberal presidential candidate from Illinois, but I know "hooey" when I hear it.


I remember hearing the over-the-top prognosticators of doom and gloom dating back to my college days and before. I remember hearing the environmentalists predict a global drop in temperature was going to occur and create a new ice age. We are still waiting for Newsweek's 1975 article about the impending ice age entitled "The Cooling World" by Peter Gwynne, to become a reality – the article predicted the world could expect same to happen within 10 years of its date of writing. There was the acid rain scare, predictions of forest death in Central Europe, and other apocalyptic predictions, not the least of which were those outlined in William and Paul Paddock's book entitled "Famine-1975." They argued that, "by 1975, a disaster of unprecedented magnitude [would] face the world and famines greater than any in history [would] ravage the undeveloped nations." . . . [Read More]

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Tags: Al Gore, global cooling, global warming, Mychal Massie To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Booze and Balloons or Body Armor and Bullets

Club for Growth: Last Friday, ABC's "20/20" with John Stossel had a great segment about pork-barrel spending, showcasing Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) who has taken on the entire establishment of big spenders in Washington. Just this week, Coburn is proposing an amendment to the Iraq war supplemental bill to strip it of $100 million to be spent on the 2008 presidential nomination conventions. In a recent CongressDaily article, Coburn said, 'Members will have to make a difficult choice between booze and balloons or body armor and bullets,' arguing that the conventions' costs could be foreseen and do not constitute an emergency. "Were the appropriators taken by surprise by the presidential conventions?" Watch the 20/20 video here. If the link fails, please try here.

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Tags: Glub for Growth, John Stossel, pork, pork-barrel spenders, Senate, Tom Coburn, US Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

HB2489 - Educ Bill Mandates Universities & Colleges Grant College Credit for UN High School Program

ARRA Editorial: Rep. Horace Hardwick (R-Bentonville) introduced HB2489. It mandates that AR state institutions of higher education grant at least twenty-four (24) semester credit hours or equivalent course credit in subject areas to an entering freshman student who have successfully completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBP). IBP is ta United Nations (UN) global program designed to influence students "away from" patriotism and Christian values. In the program, 11th and 12th grade tests are sent to Beijing China, Venezuela, and other countries to be graded (per a Hot Springs' school official). Hot Springs is the only district in Arkansas to implement the IBP district wide and now has a 67% college remediation rate and their graduation rate has fallen to 56%.

The State Legislature should not be mandating that Arkansas Universities grant college credit for high school programs. Some people have lost the understanding that high school programs are designed for the minds of teenagers (average ages 14-17). The majority of students are not - repeat not capable of completing College level courses - let alone 24 or more credit hours of college while in high school. To mandate that the IBP high school courses be granted college credit (just shy of a full year's credit) is both working a "slight of hands" on our educational system and lowering academic standards.

Also, this UN program which promotes one-world views as a baseline for American education is a travesty. Have some Arkansans become so gullible to think that this UN developed program which is accepted and taught in depressed countries of the would, taught in emerging nations of the world and taught in nations of the world that are diametrically opposed to our national viewpoint should be a primary part of our education system? Granting credit at both high school and college levels for the IBP program would be an even bigger travesty.
The IBP program is a "social engineering" program created by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), a UN organization in Geneva, Switzerland. IBO "has endorsed the Earth Charter – an earth-centered collection of global principles which honor global political-ethical-moral and spiritual unification. The UN Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided the funding to create the IBO program. In one of its first efforts in 1949, the UNESCO textbook, titled "Toward World Understanding" said, "As long as the child breathes the poisoned air of nationalism, education in world-mindedness can produce only rather precarious results. ... it is frequently the family that infects the child with extreme nationalism."

What are others saying? School board members in a Minnesota district called it anti-American and anti-Christian. In New Jersey, members of a school board argued it's a waste of money. A suburban Pittsburgh school district abolished it over questions of politics and cost. Critics argue that IBO's multicultural themes promote values that conflict with traditional Judeo-Christian values. One teacher objected because of IBO's endorsement of the Earth Charter which calls for sustainability of the Earth through responsible reproduction and wealth distribution. Many opponents have called it Marxist. Jeanne Geiger, Reston, Va., wrote, "Administrators do not tell you that the current IBP for ages 3 through grade 12 promotes socialism, disarmament, radical environmentalism and moral relativism, while attempting to undermine Christian religious values and national sovereignty."

We encourage all to oppose HB2489. Rep. Hardwick told the press that the bill was "needed to give gifted and talented students in Arkansas high schools incentive to stay in Arkansas for college. Students from Bentonville are going to the Univ. of Tulsa where they can get college credit for their Bentonville High School IBP classes." Hardwick is a member of the Board of Trustees N.W. AR Community College. Has he advocated this educational strategy at the college? Obviously, the Univ of Tulsa may elect to "waters down" their degree programs. Should Hardwick's proposal be approved to do the same at Arkansas colleges? Hardwick bio relates his affiliation with Fellowship Bible Church in Bentonville. In good conscious, how can he advocate for college credit for a UN program designed to undermine both Christianity and United States of America?

We hope that Rep. Hardwick will withdraw his presumptive bill. We encourage each reader to contact their senator and representative and to oppose this bill. The bill is currently before members of the House Education Committee. See Also: Legislators question course work in college-credit program measure
- IBO – A Controversial UN Global Education Program That Conflicts With Judeo-Christian Values
- IBO wants total disarmament
- Jonesboro School District Backs off International Baccalaureate Program
- Schools limited with International Baccalaureate Program

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Tags: Arkansas, Arkansas Republican Assembly, ARRA, House, House Education Committee, IBO, IBP, International Baccalaureate Program To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

How Will Sen. Pryor Vote on the Iraq Timetable?Will He Again Keep His Promise?

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on legislation that would set an arbitrary timeline to withdraw troops and cut off critical funding for our armed forces fighting the war on terror in Iraq. A similar provision was defeated in the Senate on March 15, 2007, thanks to the strong efforts from a group of bipartisan Senators who opposed broadcasting our intentions to cut-and-run in Iraq to the terrorists. Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor was one of two Democrats who voted against this provision.
· According to the Washington Post: “The one Senate Democrat still uncommitted on the spending bill is Pryor, who has objected to setting public timetables for withdrawing troops. Although the March 31, 2008, date is described in the legislation as a goal, an aide said Pryor will spend the weekend weighing his vote.” (“Senate Democrats Float War Bill Similar to That in House,” Washington Post, 03/22/07)
· Before the March 15, 2007 vote, Pryor stated: “President Bush should lay out for the American people measurable goals for success in Iraq; however, it is a grave mistake to publicly announce timetables and consequently hand over our game plan to Iraqi insurgents…” (Daniel Connolly, "Lincoln, Pryor Split On Iraq Troop Withdrawal Amendment," AP, 06/22/06)
· Pryor also said: “I have talked to countless troops who have pleaded with me not to give the enemy any indication of troop movements, especially those showing we are reducing forces. They know it endangers them and their comrades. I cannot and will not put them at risk." (Daniel Connolly, "Lincoln, Pryor Split On Iraq Troop Withdrawal Amendment," AP, 06/22/06)
· After the March 15, 2007 Senate vote, Pryor stated it was a: “Very, very tough decision there. But my position on that is I'm opposed to a public timetable… I'm opposed to the surge, but I think it should be a classified timetable, and we do that on our own terms.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 03/16/07)
· Pryor also said: “It's just like in World War II. The Germans knew we were coming at D-Day. They didn't know when and where. I don't want to telegraph what we're doing to the other side.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 03/16/07)

How will Senator Pryor vote this time? Call his office and ask the Senator if he will stand by his statements opposing a timeline in Iraq, or if he will flip-flop on this critical issue to placate the liberal Senate leadership [Little Rock: (501) 324-6336; Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-2353].

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Tags: Iraq War, Mark Pryor, military troops, Senator, support troops, US Congress

Coach Tony Dungy Supports Traditional Marriage [Video]

By Jerry Falwell: This week, the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, appearing at a pro-traditional family meeting in Indiana, said he supports state legislation defining marriage as the union solely between one man and one woman. Speaking at the Indiana Family Institute, where he received a "Friend of Family" award, Coach Dungy said he embraces the stance of the organization, which works to protect traditional marriage. "We're not trying to downgrade anyone else," he stated. "But we're trying to promote the family -- family values the Lord's way" . . . [Read More] See also: Petition to Support Coach Tony Dungy – Thank him for supporting one-man, one-woman marriage!
- South Carolina bans gay "marriage"
- Indiana's Senate passes marriage protection amendment with 78% support
Video of Coach Dungy endorsing traditional marriage:

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Tags: Family Values, Indianapolis, Jerry Falwell, Tony Dungy, video

ERA bill (HJR1002) is back again!

The ERA bill, HJR1002 is back before the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs House Committee. Previously on Feb 7, after a heated debate, the committee split on a vote of 10-10 and the proposed bill died in committee: 10 FOR the ERA: Earnest Brown, Marilyn Edwards, Clark Hall, Mark Pate, Rick Saunders, Jeff Wood, Steve Harrelson, Eddie Cheatham, Charolette Wagner, Denny Sumpter 10 AGAINST the ERA: Dan Greenberg, Lance Reynolds, Pam Adcock, Robert Jeffrey, David Evans, Horace Hardwick, Daryl Pace, Eric Harris, Rick Green, Buddy Lovell.

Read "Six Reasons to Oppose the ERA." Instead of lobbying for special rights in the face of growing opposition, the Left is promoting legislation that would quietly usher in their agenda through the backdoor at the state level. Now, state Rep. Lindsley Smith (D) is dusting off the amendment in a campaign to "protect women," when in fact, the U.S. Constitution already does so. Smith is pushing her state to ratify the ERA, which seeks not to end discrimination, injustice, or chauvinism, but to undermine motherhood, traditional sexuality, and innate gender differences.

The ERA specifically states that there can be no discrimination based on "sex," language which has since been used in the courts as an argument to legalize same-sex marriage in such states as Maryland, Hawaii and New Mexico. Now the Left, desperate to find some way around public opposition to homosexual marriage, hopes to revive the amendment under the guise of "female oppression." As the Arkansas Republican Assembly has pointed out, the ERA is problematic because it surrenders more rights than it confers. If approved, the ERA could forfeit: women's rights by requiring them to serve in the military; voters' rights by allowing the courts to interpret whether the ERA nullifies the state's marriage protection amendment; and the right to life by requiring the state to pay for abortions as it would for any other "medical procedure." Again - reconsideration and a new vote on the ERA may be scheduled in Committee without the previously well documented testimony previously presented. So take action right away.

The ERA movement in Arkansas is part of an aggressive strategy to obliterate the traditional family. What happens there could determine the fate of the ERA in America. Committee Members' Names, Email and Contact Info for the are on line at -- Click Now!

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Tags: Arkansas, Equal Right Amendment, ERA, HJR1002

FEDs Propose Closing Public Lands to Shooting and Hunting

Federal agencies have proposed closing hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to recreational shooting and hunting in Arizona, Florida,and Nevada!
- BLM Proposes Banning Recreational Shooting on Arizona Public Lands
- Hunting Program On Florida Refuge Is In Jeopardy
- Shooting Closure Expected On BLM Lands Outside Las Vegas

Arkansas: Help Defend Your Hunting & Fishing Heritage!
Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR7), an NRA-backed Constitutional Amendment sponsored by State Senator Steve Faris that would recognize hunting and fishing as constitutional rights, passed the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. Please continue contacting members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs, and urge them to cosponsor Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR7) For additional details on this proposed Constitutional Amendment that would recognize hunting and fishing as constitutional rights, please click here.

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Tags: Arkansas, fishing, hunting, SJR7

Commerce chief pushes for 'North American integration'

Communiqué shows SPP far more than just 'dialogue' with Canada, Mexico - WorldNetDaily: While the Bush administration insists the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership is just a dialogue with Canada and Mexico, a State Department cable released to WorldNetDaily shows Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez pressing to implement major trilateral initiatives to help "capture the vision of North American integration. "The cable was among some 150 pages of State Department SPP documents recently released to WND under a Freedom of Information Act request. Howard Phillips, who has formed a coalition to block development of a "North American Union" and formation of NAFTA superhighways, told WND the document "makes clear that the agenda of SPP is to pursue major economic integration that redefines U.S. businesses into a 'North American' definition" . . . [Read More] Update Info: North American Union: evolution by stealth?

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Tags: Carlos Gutierrez, Howard Phillips, NAU, North American Union, Security and Prosperity Partnership To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Federal judge strikes down internet porn law as violating free speech Removes 'wall of protection between children and hardcore pornographers'

LifeSiteNews.com: A US district court judge stuck down a 1998 law passed by Congress against Internet pornography that made it a crime for commercial website operators to let children under 18 view pornographic materials. Senior U.S. District Judge Lowell Reed Jr., who presided over the four-week trial last fall, ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the 1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA) violated a constitutional right to free speech. The judge ruled that while the law intends to protect children from commercial pornography, parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not impinge upon the rights of others to unrestricted access to pornography . . . [Read More]

ARRA Editor's Comment: To protect children, why can't others (adults) have "restricted access to pornography." Children need protecting -- they are not "impinging." We believe that the "majority of adults" would also appreciate some form of restricted access where they would be able to determine when (if ever) and where they want pornography available to them on the Internet. Again the minority desires are encroaching on the rights and desires of the majority. The issue is not free speech which still exists; it is an issue of open access to the eyes and minds of those who are minors and even to a majority of adults who don't even want access verses restricted access where the adult must "open the door and enter the place" where the pornography is displayed. What's next Judge - open sex publicly at 1st Street and Main Street in every city? I hope not. The Internet has become the "corner of 1st and Main" for public communication today and pornography need not be displayed at this point. Go town the street, turn left and enter the restricted location would be far more acceptable. Let's hope this case is appealed.

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Tags: ACLU, internet, pornography, protecting children To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Help Ensure Adopted Children have a Mother AND a Father

Arkansas bill, SB959 that would prevent homosexuals and adults in illicit relationships from adopting children has already passed the Senate, and it now needs help to ensure similar success in the state House. This bill merely affirms what social science has revealed again and again - the best environment to raise children is when a mother and a father are joined in marriage. Even the infamous Massachusetts Supreme Court, in a dissenting opinion to their notorious same-sex "marriage" case, argued that a mother and a father represent the best chance to raise healthy and successful children.

This bill reminds the people of Arkansas that the well-being of children must be our priority. Children represent the future, and we must cultivate that future with public policy that seeks their best interests. Some facts to consider:
· A study of convicted child molesters, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, found that "86 percent of offenders against males described themselves as homosexual or bisexual" (W. D. Erickson, M.D., et al., in Archives of Sexual Behavior 17:1, 1988).

· The rate of homosexual versus heterosexual child sexual abuse is staggering," said Reisman, who was the principal investigator for an $800,000 Justice Department grant studying child pornography and violence. "Abel's data of 150.2 boys abused per male homosexual offender finds no equal (yet) in heterosexual violations of 19.8 girls." See more staggering statistics at this link that could be used in emails or letters to committee members.

· A Florida’s law banning adoption by homosexuals was upheld by the 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals. [quoted in article below]

According to Laura Kellams, NWANews: Two accused of sabotaging bill: One of the chief backers of a ban on adoption and foster parenting by homosexuals on Thursday accused the governor and speaker of the House of working behind the scenes to kill the legislation. Jerry Cox, executive director of the Family Council, said House Speaker Benny Petrus assigned the bill to an unfriendly committee, House Judiciary, in an effort to defeat it. He said Gov. Mike Beebe is putting pressure on lawmakers with vague comments about the bill’s constitutionality. ... [Read More]

Please act now and support the best interests of adoptive children - ask your state representative to support Senate Bill 959. Call, write, and email the members of the House Judiciary Committee Members, especially if the member is in your district. One legislator advised that letters are more effective than emails. Address letters to: Representative ___, State Capitol, Little Rock, AR 72201. Call the House Switchboard 501-682-6211 and leave a message for one of these committee members and ask them to vote for SB959 the ban on gay adoption. Governor Beebe's phone number for messages is 501-682-2345; his email is mike.beebe@governor.arkansas.gov

Help Ensure Adopted Children have a Mother AND a Father

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Tags: adoption, Arkansas, Family Council, foster care, homosexuality, Jerry Cox, Senate, Shawn Womack To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

House Set Timetable for Troops in Iraq - Retreat And Butter

by Anne Flanherty (AP): A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress' boldest challenge yet to the administration's policy. Ignoring a White House veto threat, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep last November, which gave them control of Congress. ...

Voting for the bill were 216 Democrats and two Republicans - Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland and Walter Jones of North Carolina. Of the 212 members who opposed the bill, 198 were Republicans and 14 were Democrats. The bill marks the first time Congress has used its budget power to try to end the war, now in its fifth year, by attaching the withdrawal requirements to a bill providing $124 billion to finance military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of this year. ... In the Senate, Democratic leaders will need 60 votes to prevail - a tall order because they will need about a dozen Republicans to join them. And should lawmakers send Bush a compromise House-Senate measure, both chambers would need two-thirds majorities to override him - margins that neither seems likely to be able to muster. [Read More]

Retreat And Butter - Editorial, The Washington Post: Today the House of Representatives is due to vote on a bill that would grant $25 million to spinach farmers in California. The legislation would also appropriate $75 million for peanut storage in Georgia and $15 million to protect Louisiana rice fields from saltwater. More substantially, there is $120 million for shrimp and menhaden fishermen, $250 million for milk subsidies, $500 million for wildfire suppression and $1.3 billion to build levees in New Orleans.

Altogether the House Democratic leadership has come up with more than $20 billion in new spending ... [R]epresentatives who support the bill -- for whatever reason -- will be voting to require that all U.S. combat troops leave Iraq by August 2008, regardless of what happens during the next 17 months or whether U.S. commanders believe a pullout at that moment protects or endangers U.S. national security, not to mention the thousands of American trainers and Special Forces troops who would remain behind. ...

[H]ouse Democrats are pressing a bill that has the endorsement of MoveOn.org but excludes the judgment of the U.S. commanders who would have to execute the retreat the bill mandates. ... [Democrats] should not seek to use pork to buy a majority for an unconditional retreat that the majority does not support.

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Tags: Iraq War, Withdrawal, timeline, democrats, US House, US Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Update on Electoral College Bills

While HB1703 waits in the Arkansas Senate committee, one has to ask how such a "subversive plan to ditch the electoral college" and overturn the process that has worked well for over 200 years. Phyllis Schlafly detailed in an article last year the background of the "gang of frustrated liberals" and the consequences if their proposal was taken seriously.

Colorado and Tennessee have Rejected bills to abolish the electoral college. A Colorado house committee voted 10-1 to kill the bill that would enter Colorado into an interstate agreement to elect the president by popular vote. A law professor from Regis University, Jim Riley, said the bill's "effects would be potentially catastrophic for the nation." Another law professor, Robert Hardaway from the University of Denver, predicts that "without the electoral college, close votes would be a nightmare." Close presidential elections could result in "recounts in every precinct, in every state." (Rockymountainnews.com 3/9/07) In Tennessee, a similar bill did not spark enough interest to even receive a hearing.

As Schlafly rightly pointed out: The Electoral College is the successful vehicle by which a presidential candidate achieves a majority in a functioning political process. Abraham Lincoln won less than 40 percent of the popular vote and relied on his Electoral College majority for his authority. Basing the election on a plurality of the popular vote while ignoring the states would be like the New York Yankees claiming they won the 1960 World Series because they outscored the Pirates in runs 55-27 and in hits 91-60. No one challenges the fact that the Pirates fairly won that Series, 4 games to 3.

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Tags: Arkansas, Colorado, Electoral College, Phyllis Schlafly, Tennessee

Family Hangs in the Balance of New Budget Increased Income Taxes on Families Expected

by Tony Perkins, FRC Blog: As you fill out this year's IRS paperwork, enjoy your family tax breaks. If the new Senate leadership has its way, they may be among your last. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled a resolution that calls for a balanced budget by 2012. While it seems like an insurmountable task, liberals have found an easy solution. They'll simply reverse every GOP tax cut and raise an extra $900 billion in revenue.

As part of the plan, Democrats would reinstate the tax penalty on married couples, causing the standard deduction for joint filers to shrink from 200 to 167 percent by 2011. Also, liberals recommend slashing the child tax credit in half, reducing it from $1,000 to $500. Although Congress has managed to whittle the death taxes down to nearly nothing under the current code, Democrats would resurrect them in four short years. Unfortunately, the tax rates would rise substantially in every bracket, even among low-income taxpayers who would be forced to pay Uncle Sam at a 15 percent rate. Under the measure, taxes on both dividends and capital gains would increase by Jan. 2009. ... [Read More]

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Tags: Democrat, FRC, increased taxes, taxes, Tony Perkins

Tancredo Slams Renewed Push for Amnesty

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) responded today to plans by the amnesty coalition of Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and their announcement to push for yet, another amnesty and provide a path to citizenship to people who have broken the law." The President and his new Democratic allies in Congress seem hell-bent on cramming this mass amnesty down the throats of the American people whether they want it or not," said Congressman Tancredo. "They keep changing the shade of lipstick, but like I've said time and time again, it's still the same old pig."

The House version of the bill is expected to be introduced this week, while Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) dropping their companion bill likely next week. The Gutierrez/McCain legislation would allow Illegal aliens who pay a $2,000 fine and pass background checks to continue working for six years before they apply for a green card. It would also make those illegals eligible for amnesty if they could "document" that they arrived in the United States before June 1, 2006. Only the "head of the household" would have to leave and reenter the U.S. to complete their green card application. These former (six years ago) illegal aliens would not have to return to country of origin. They could just travel to Canada or Mexico to finish laundering their status. Children, elderly, single heads of household, business owners and those in military service are exempt from this component. Tancredo concluded, "The core elements of the bill are intact from last year's version, so the main question is whether freshmen Democrats who campaigned on a platform of strong border security and no amnesty will keep their pledges. I hope their constituents will see to it that they do."

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Tags: amnesty, illegal immigrants, Jeff Flake, John Mccain, Luis Gutierrez, presidential candidate, Ted Kennedy, Tom Tancredo To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

To Our Americans Serving in Iraq [Video]

by Bob Parks, Black and Right: The following video says what many of us had said and wished the Whitehouse press secretary would say ... [ Bob Parks is a member/writer for the National Advisory Council of Project 21, and VP of Marketing and Media Relations/Staff Writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.]

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Tags: Black and Right, Bob Parks, Iraq War, military troops, video To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

It's back: 'Hate crimes' bill reintroduced

By Susan Jones: Liberals call it a "hate crimes prevention" bill, but conservatives denounce it as "anti-Christian" legislation.Whatever you call it, the bill is back -- reintroduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) on Tuesday. Liberals are pressing for passage, and conservatives are pressing President Bush to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. "If there was ever a bill which needed to be vetoed -- this is it," said Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. "Most Christians might as well rip the pages which condemn homosexuality right out of their Bibles because this bill will make it illegal to publicly express the dictates of their religious beliefs." . . . [Read More]

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Tags: free speech, Hate Crime Bill, hate speech, homosexual activism, John Conyers, religious freedom, U.S. House, US Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gunning for Gun Owners -- Under fire from narcissistic journalists

by Michelle Malkin: "The Second Amendment," Charlton Heston used to say, "is America's first freedom." The Second secures the rest.It's a message narcissistic journalists need to hear again. A decade ago, Heston chastised the media in a National Press Club speech for its collective ignorance, apathy and open hostility toward gun owners' rights: "Clearly, too many have used freedom of the press as a weapon not only to strangle our free speech, but to erode and ultimately destroy the right to keep and bear arms as well. In doing so you promoted your profession to that of constitutional judge and jury, more powerful even than our Supreme Court, more prejudiced than the Inquisition's tribunals . . . [Read more] See also:
Community suggests gun possession is illegal for residents
Rudy's gun-control agenda

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Tags: gun control, Michelle Malkin, second amendment To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!