(Originally posted on The Conservative Reader: Iowa) If you don’t already know, we are thoroughly Pro Life here at the The Conservative Reader. From the moment of conception, the rights of every American should extend to even those that are still in the womb, despite the inconvenience they may pose to their mother.

We are also opposed to the current effort in Congress to foist a complex, expensive, invasive and industry-busting piece of legislation in the name of saving lives and improving the health of Americans. We are not opposed to ensuring that all Americans have access to health-care, but this bill, in whatever form it has taken thus far, is not in the best interest America. More on that in the next few days.

Worse yet, is that such a bill, in the name of saving lives, may end up funneling more and more money to take lives… innocent lives at that.

The following is a piece provided by Jenifer Bowen (appeared in the Facebook group page for Iowa Right To Life):

There is a battle going on in the Congress over Health Care reform and they, meaning the U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators, are under heavy pressure to strike a deal and get it done before the summer recess in August. Our concern is a “deal” that would allow for funding and mandates in the bill.

There are millions of dollars at stake, and the abortion industry is working hard to get their hands on what they see as a gold mine of tax funding. Their goal includes mandating abortion as health care and having their mandates funded. The good news is that there are many leaders in congress with a conscience that want health care reform, but do not agree with mandating or funding abortion with taxpayer’s money.

However, the pressure from President Obama and the Democrat leadership is mounting, as they want abortion as part of Health Care Reform. This is bad news since it comes down to heavy political pressures on each representative.

This is when your voice really counts. This [...]

Arthur Brooks, at The Wall Street Journal suggests that there’s a bit of a culture war going on about the future of capitalism. The headline suggests that “The Real Culture War Is Over Capitalism “

There is a major cultural schism developing in America. But it’s not over abortion, same-sex marriage or home schooling, as important as these issues are. The new divide centers on free enterprise — the principle at the core of American culture.

I dare suggest Brooks in this quote, has this exactly backward. He’s pointing at a symptom and labeling at the root cause. Not that I blame him, really. It’s been so long since we’ve dealt with things on the level of principle that even the more learned among us get it garbled in translation.

I agree with Arthur that this is a war that is cultural in its nature. However, the war over capitalism, as he calls it, is part of the war on culture because capitalism in its truest sense can only exist in a free society, which is a culturally generated condition. It is the product of a particular variety of culture that… (at least until recently)… we here in these United States have been blessed with. What I am suggesting is that the principle at the core of the American culture is in fact freedom, of which capitalism is a product.

While it is true that there are a few places in the communist world, China for example, where capitalism raises its head in some form, it is diluted in the extreme. It is in fact, capitalism in name only. Alas in the view of many, a goodly number of which were out on the front lines of the tea party protests last month, that kind of weak as dishwater capitalism, capitalism in name only, is the [...]

I watched Friday’s John and Cindy McCain interview on The View.  Below is part 1; parts 2 and 3 should be accessible from the video. I see several posts refering to this interview as “McCain Grilled On The View”, for instance this story at Huffpo, and this one at Century Of The Common Iowan. A [...]

Sarah Palin had her first big interview (6 parts) this week since being selected as John McCain’s running mate.  Paul F. Villareal made the video’s available at YouTube. Of course, ABC played it for as much air time as they could… including repeating sections of the interview on 20/20 last night. Let’s see, Thursday “World [...]

I feel like I just got punched in the stomach. Michael Gerson at Real Clear Politics provides an analysis of a piece of the political news of the day that may just break your heart.  At the center of the excitement and controversy over Sarah Palin being thrust into the national limelight is the story [...]

I finally got time to watch a recording of Saturday night’s Saddleback Church event with Obama and McCain.  DJ made some excellent observations earlier in the week, which I thought I might supplement a bit.  If you have not seen it yet, I strongly suggest that you view this event as I think it provides [...]