Choosing Greatness, Honored Guests, Pro-Abortion Extremism

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

"Choosing Greatness"
 
President Trump delivers his annual State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress tonight at 9:00 PM ET.  You can watch it here
 
Yesterday, the White House began releasing some details about what the president will say, and he's got a great story to tell the American people.  

  • Historic tax reform and regulatory rollbacks have jumpstarted the economy.
  • More than five million jobs have been created since Donald Trump's election. 
  • Minority unemployment is near a record low. 
  • Manufacturing jobs are coming back to America. 
  • Wages are rising again.
  • America's energy industry is the envy of the world. 

President Trump is expected to deliver a unifying message tonight, centered on the theme of "Choosing Greatness."  And just to be clear, it is a choice.  Greatness doesn't happen by accident. 
 
As we are seeing from the chaos in Venezuela, nations must choose to pursue the right policies to grow their economies, put their people first and maintain their sovereignty and strength.  As the previous administration proved, higher taxes and bigger government is not the path to prosperity.
 
 
 
Honored Guests
 
The guests invited by the White House to attend tonight's address put a human face to the policy proposals the president will promote in his address tonight.  For example: 

  • Debra Bissell, Heather Armstrong, and Madison Armstrong represent thousands of Americans who have suffered needlessly because Congress has failed to secure our borders.
  • Special Agent Elvin Hernandez is the on the front lines of the Administration's efforts to combat human trafficking.
  • Alice Johnson and Matthew Charles represent the power of faith to transform lives and the tremendous potential of second chances that can be achieved through the Administration's criminal justice reforms.
  • Roy James represents the success of the Administration's economic agenda.
  • Pittsburgh Police Officer Timothy Matson and Judah Samet, both of whom survived the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, represent the Administration's commitment to religious liberty, as well as law and order.
  • Cancer survivor Grace Eline and Ashley Evans, who is recovering from substance abuse, represent the Administration's commitment to improving the nation's public health.
  • Joshua Trump and Tom Wibberley represent the Administration's commitment to our men and women in uniform and to all those the president often refers to as the "forgotten man."

In stark contrast, progressive politicians have invited illegal immigrants, government bureaucrats and radical left-wing activists to the State of the Union address.
 
 
 
Pro-Abortion Extremism
 
The left's pro-abortion extremism was on full display in the Senate yesterday afternoon.  In the wake of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's (D) defense of infanticide, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) attempted to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act under a unanimous consent agreement.
 
This should not have been controversial.  The Sasse bill wasn't even about "abortion rights."  It was about protecting the life of a baby that survived an attempted abortion and was now living outside of the womb.
 
"You're either for babies or you're defending infanticide.  That's literally what this bill is about," Sen. Sasse said.
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged all senators to support the bill, saying:
 
"I hope that none of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle invent any reason to block this [bill.] That would make quite a disturbing statement. . .  It is harrowing that this legislation is even necessary."
 
Incredibly, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) objected to the unanimous consent agreement and blocked the bill from passing. 
 
I am pleased to report that several pro-life senators took to the Senate floor to express their outrage at Murray's objection and to defend the sanctity of life.
 
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) said:
 
"This is the world's greatest legislate body.  There is nothing great, there is nothing moral or even humane, about the discussion that we have before us today. 

"Somehow this conversation has devolved so completely that a bill prohibiting the murder of children who are born alive, a bill that simply prohibits infanticide, has tonight been blocked on the floor of the Senate."

Referring to Gov. Ralph Northam's comments about having "a discussion" after the baby was born, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said:
 
"How can this be a discussion we're having on the Senate floor?  It used to be my [liberal] colleagues said life begins at birth. Now, apparently, it's not at life anymore.  It's unknown when life begins.  Because it's a discussion now at birth."
 
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said:
 
"It is hard to fathom the extremism of politicians in New York and now Virginia who would deny the protections of law to the most vulnerable members of our society, the innocent unborn, even up to birth."
 
Majority Leader McConnell vowed that the Senate would again debate the left's support of infanticide, saying, "I can assure [senators] that this will not be the last time we try to ensure that all newborns are afforded this fundamental legal protection."
 
One Gallup poll found that only 13% of Americans support third-trimester abortions.  But as Sen. Sasse put it, "This is about 'fourth-trimester' abortion."
 
Once again, so-called "progressives" have proven that the real extremists in the abortion debate are not those trying to save innocent lives, but those who are so eager to take innocent lives at every opportunity -- even after birth.
 
Abortion on demand.  Open borders.  Socialized medicine.  Seventy percent tax rates.   
Attacks on law enforcement.  Add in a dose of classic anti-Semitism and you have today's progressive movement!