The Dawn of a New Revolution?

Nancy Pelosi has slipped a cog or something. I've always thought she was a bit nuts but today she has removed all doubt. She is determined that the Democrats should push the Health Care bill through, even if it costs Senators their jobs. Ironically, she said, "We're here to do the job for the American people."
Oh really?
So, if she thinks that they are doing the job for the American people, then why would the same American people threaten to vote these knuckleheads out of office? The answer is obvious, even to a liberal Democrat... "the people do not want this bill to pass!"
So what is Nancy Pelosi "really" saying? That to is obvious. She is saying that the American people are not smart enough to think for themselves, so the Democrats must think for them. She said that they will "get it" later and thank them for it.
Don't think so? Here is here own words, "We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We're here to do the job for the American people. It took courage for Congress to pass Social Security and Medicare, which eventually became highly popular, she said, "and many of the same forces that were at work decades ago are at work again against this bill."

An AP wire story states "Pelosi told CNN that "in a matter of days" Democrats will have specific legislative language on health care to show to the public and to wavering lawmakers. She predicted voters will warm up to the bill once they understand its details."

In other words... they can't figure it out, so we will do this and they will get used to it. Now I ask each of you, does this sound like a "government of the people, by the people, for the people"? It sure doesn't to me. These leftist liberals have decided to create their own socialist country "for America's own good" and we can warm up to the idea later. I'm predicting that IF they (the Democrats) do what they are threatening to do, America will see protesting in the streets across this nation in numbers that will DWARF the protests of the late sixties. If they pull this low down underhanded stunt and pass a bill that by far and away the majority of Americans do not want, then we could see the beginning of a brand new revolution awaken in America.

Hold on to your seats America, this could be a bumpy ride!

Obama Signs Patriot Act Extension

For more than 2 years Barack Obama ripped and criticized then President Bush and the Republican party for the Patriot Act. Now that he is sitting in the Oval Office he apparently sees things differently, as very quietly Saturday afternoon while the world was focused on the earthquake in Chile and the possible tsunami waves to hit Hawaii, Japan and other places, Obama signed a one year extension to the Patriot Act that otherwise would have expired on Sunday. The view from the White House has obviously caused Obama to see the benefits of the Patriot Act out weigh the drawbacks. He certainly did not want his supporters to know his actions, and the fact of the matter is, that if it were not for Fox News, he would have done this in complete secrecy. I did a quick scan of the websites of MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CNN and CBS and Fox. Fox alone carried the story. Anyone else smell the stench coming from the media outlets that are in the pocket of this President and the Democratic party?

The Blessing

For the last few weeks and for the next few weeks I have been preaching a series of messages I've entitled, "Living Under the Blessing." Most seem to have enjoyed it thus far. A few have gotten their feathers ruffled because I preached against the lie of Satan that crept into the church that basically said that poverty equaled holiness. God's plan from the first chapter of Genesis on was and is to BLESS his people. For this series I've used a working definition of "Blessed" which is; "The beneficial endue-ment of the power of God to produce well-being in every area of your life." There are four things related to this blessing that I've discussed"
1) Salvation for your soul
2) Healing for your body
3) Well being for you and your family
4) Prosperity for you... spiritually AND financially

Some folks really have a hard time with that financial prosperity thing... but it is in the Word of God. Every time God pronounced a blessing on someone, they prospered financially. Check it out in the Word.

Like I said, some are hung up on that end, but I've dealt with a few people the past couple of weeks who questioned why they see others blessed, but they are not... at least not continually. In each and every case, without exception, I asked these people who were asking me the questions, "Do you faithfully tithe?" and every single one of them either said that they don't or "they tried" but were not consistent in their giving.
That is not tithing!
You don't try to obey... you obey!

Notice the words in Deut. 28:1-2 where it says "If you fully obey the LORD your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the LORD your God exalt you above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the LORD your God."

Everyone wants the blessing, but note the condition! "If you fully obey!"

IF you "diligently" listen to and act upon the commands of God... That's a condition!
If, THEN blessings shall come upon you and overtake you!

In fact, later in this same chapter, there is a lengthy dialogue about how we are totally, completely cursed (by God!) if we do not obey!

Not one of us is entitled to the blessing until we obey!

As I have gone through my sermon series, I have shown how God blessed Adam and Eve, but that they blew it... How? By disobeying God's commands.
Noah was favored and blessed by God, and God spoke the same blessing over him and his family that he had pronounced over Adam and Eve... but Noah and humanity blew it... by disobedience.

Disobedience nullifies the blessing!
If you want to be Blessed... You've got to uphold your end of the agreement.
The big difference is that now, our end of the agreement is upheld by putting our trust completely in Christ!

I Just Don't Get It

I just have to say, "I don't get it." We had a special service last night at our church, believing God for miracles, and I believe there were people healed and set free. We've tried to let people know for a couple of weeks about this service. It was attended pretty well for a very cold Wednesday night, and like I said, God's Word was confirmed by signs and wonders.
Now here's the deal.
I came home late last night and checked my messages and there are couple and then a couple more already this morning. One said, "I really wanted to come last night, but it was cold, and I really did not want to miss American Idol. Please pray for me because I really need a miracle." Another said, I was going to come but it was so cold that I stayed home. Pray for me because if God does not do a miracle in my life I don't know what I am going to do."
All of these message (but one) said something similar to these. I hate to sound cold and hard hearted, but let's be honest... these folks don't really want their miracle!
They might want things to get better, but not if it means they have to do something or give something or put forth effort. They are looking at God like a fairy god-mother who might come floating in and wave her wand and suddenly everything gets better. They don't even want to exercise faith, which the Bible tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please him." I know some are probably going to get angry with me over this blog, but you know, sometimes my job as pastor is to make you mad. The fact is, you may direct your anger at me all you want, but the only one you should be angry at is yourself and satan because you have allowed him to rip you off once again!

I just don't get it. The woman with the issue of blood had to put forth a lot of effort to get to Jesus, and she exercised faith in doing so. Over and over, when the miracles came, someone exercised faith. But people don't seem to be willing to put for the the effort to pursue Jesus. I just don't get it.

I Admit it... I'm addicted!

One of my food passions is for a good hot dog. Please notice, I said, "good" hot dog. I cannot eat just any hot dog because frankly (no pun intended) many of them will make me very sick. Literally.
But good ones.... I am convinced there there will be hot dogs at the marriage feast when we get to heaven. OK... maybe not at the marriage feast, but I KNOW that hot dogs will be in heaven. I think angels eat them now.

Anyway, I've been on this Atkins diet and if you know anything about a good hot dog, they don't have fillers, which means there are zero carbs or at least less than one carb per dog. A little while back I discovered Oscar Mayer Jalepeno Cheese dogs. I have come to the place I have to admit that I am addicted to them. Walmart ran out of them a couple of weeks ago and in typical Walmart fashion, they did not restock them for more than 2 weeks. I was going crazy! No other store in the area had them, so I drove round trip, 87 miles to get me some of my cherished dogs. This morning, I wanted them for breakfast! But I behaved myself... and just had an early lunch at 10:30. I just may have to find me a support group for my dog addiction!

Is Your Mind Made Up?

I woke up today with a gospel song from some years ago that says, "Since I've met the Lord my mind is made up, to go with Jesus all the way. I'm on the right track, there's no turning back, I'm all satisfied with God." I haven't heard that song in probably 15 years, so I don't know what triggered it in my mind, but nonetheless, it is there today.
After I took Ashley to school I came in and sat down with a cup of coffee and was going to watch the news before starting my day, but I could not get that song out of my mind, so I spent some time just meditation on the Lord and how good he has been to me. I'm like anyone else, I have problems, I have bills, I have stress... you know, LIFE! But in it all and through it all, I know that I am blessed! I don't say that lightly, I know, I am a blessed man. My family is blessed. I am on the right track and there is no turning back... I am satisfied ALL satisfied with God!

It hit me, that there are a lot of people who are not satisfied with God. They may say they are, but their actions say otherwise. I am convinced that the "Christian" who is in and out of church, up and down in their walk with God... the problem is that they are not satisfied with God. Maybe I should say it this way, they are not settled with the fact that He is God and they are not, so they are trying to tell God how it should be done, rather than submitting their lives to his will. They are "in church" when things are going good (read: when things are going the way they want them to go) but when God is trying to change them, to change their direction, they begin to blame God for their problems (dissatisfaction) in life. The real issue is that they want be in charge and make all the decisions and keep God on a shelf like a magic lamp and take him out when they are in a bind or need (or want) something.

Let's be honest, we all have times we get dissatisfied. Come on, admit it, we do. But when dissatisfaction comes, we need to learn to recognize what it is and figure out where we have gotten off track. When we stay "on the right track" then we will always be satisfied. Understand, satisfied does not always mean over-joyed... but satisfied. For example, those who know me well know that I am not a winter person... certainly not the kind of winters we have where I live. Days like today when I got up and once again, it has snowed over night... I am not "over-joyed." We've had snow on the ground here continually since before Christmas. In fact, my house and yard is still decorated for Christmas because we cannot get the stakes out of the ground. I'm tired of looking at the Christmas stuff! Those who know me, know that if I were going to choose of my own accord where to live and be in ministry, I'd be down south, near or on a beach! Now understand though, that while I may want that, I know that I am exactly where God wants me to be, that this is HIS plan for my life and ministry, and I am satisfied with that. I joke about it all the time, but I would not leave Galesburg for anything at this point in my life, because this is the "track" that God has me on, and I want to stay on his track, not mine. Only when God speaks will I give serious thought to change. Notice the word "serious." The reason I added that is that I am still in this human body, and my body (flesh) looks at the snow and feels the cold and I think about my friend in Florida who spent yesterday on the beach with his family (and taunted me with it!) and my flesh begins to rise up and say, "I can preach in Florida. There are sinners in Florida." And I have to take those thoughts captive and put a stop to it, or I will find myself very quickly becoming dissatisfied with my life and my God! Again, I submit that so many people who are "in Christ" talk themselves into becoming dissatisfied... and the next thing you know they are out of church again. This is were we get the up and down, in and out church goers. They've not learned to be satisfied in their walk with God. When they do show up, they'll tell you that life is getting better. What they really mean is, "things are beginning to go the way I want them to go." They have never recognized that the "trouble" in their life is often there because they have gotten off God's track and are straying too far away, and that is when life gets chaotic because God is trying to prod them back to where they need to be.

I don't know about anyone else, but my mind is made up. I'm going to go with Jesus all the way.

We Won't Be Satisfied with Anything Ordinary

For the last several weeks this song has just gripped me and become my anthem... my marching orders, if you will. I wake up singing it. I have it running in the inner me all the time. It has caused me to refocus and driven to pursue more of God. One line of that song says, We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary…..we won’t be satisfied at all

Everytime I sing it, the very thought of what I’m saying permeates to my very soul. I will not be satisfied with life as usual. I won't be satisfied with church as usual. I want to walk in the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

A Force for Change

Bill Isaacs had this posted on his blog and I thought it there is such an awesome message here that I wanted to pass it on. The message is that we can give into self pity and frustration, or we can change our environment.

Josh Wilson was stuck in the Newark Airport when his terminal was locked down due to a security breech. Frustrations were high, tempers flaring... what's a guy to do?

We can all learn from Josh's choice of action... influence change in his environment!

A Realistic Look At The Body

The Lord showed me something this morning that is rather disturbing, but it has to be shared. I know there will be those who will be upset, even angry with me, but it has to be shared. I'm hesitant to write this one, because I know the arguments and attack I will face over this, but it has to be said.
Not because I want to, but because God says I must.

I came in this morning and was fighting a headache and was trying to deal with it while simultaneously get my head together for the day ahead and for church service tonight. I was feeling uneasy and troubled in my spirit and I asked the Lord to show me what he wanted to, and I laid my head back on the couch and waited. In just a few minutes I saw several image similar to those which I have put in the picture I created that you see here on this blog.

As I saw these images, the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, this is the condition of the Body of Christ. The first image I saw was like that of the old Charles Atlas advertisements of the 90 pound weakling. The Lord spoke to me and said, "My church should be full of power, but it is weak and anemic, having not received the meat of the Word nor having exercised and prepared herself for battle. I then saw the image of the very out of shape man looking into a mirror but seeing an image of a fit, muscular body. The impression or perception was that of one who is fit, but the reality was vastly different. The Lord spoke to me and said that many have a self-perception that they are strong and fit, but they are deceived. They are ill-prepared, not fit for battle but they cannot be convinced how out of shape they are because they see themselves as being leaders when in fact they are spiritually flabby, weak and out of shape.

The next image I saw was that of a muscular body builder posing as one would in a competition. The Holy Spirit spoke clearly to me, saying that many have "built themselves up" but it is "for themselves." They are great posers, put on a good show, but they do only for themselves. He spoke clearly that there are those who appear to be strong leaders, but they do so only for what they can get. They consider themselves to be a backbone, strong spiritual leaders, but they are full of selfishness, doing what they do for what they get out of it and the attention they receive, not for what they can do for the body. The Holy Spirit spoke so clearly saying that their prayers fall unanswered and they are powerless because their reward is their attention which they seek. I then saw an image of one sitting at a feast and getting fat while there were others sitting around them starving. And the Lord said, "they are not concerned with the body, only for themselves. They take, but never give. They neglect the time of corporate worship thinking that they are above that and have no need. They feed themselves while others are dying." I immediately thought of Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
I thought about the countless times people have told me that they "get more out of prayer meeting than they do worship service." I thought about those who only come for the singing and worship, but leave before the preaching of the Word. I believe God is speaking a strong word to His church!

The Lord showed me an image of someone sitting at a table filled with pies and cakes. And the Holy Spirit said to me "there are many who seek the sweet things, but are not willing to eat the meat. They want the shout, they want the dance, they want the so called worship, but they will not submit themselves to the teaching of the Word. He then said a Word that was very disturbing to me. He said, "My church is full of revelers without discipline."
I had to think on that one and even looked up the definition of the word "revel." The dictionary says: " to make merry, enjoy pleasure often with music, song and dance." I believe what God is saying is that people are reveling in the music, dance and so on, but it is not about worship, it is about self enjoyment. When the music and dance is gone, so are they. Many come to church and enjoy the music and dance, but their life is not changed. If the life is not changed, then it cannot be worship, it is a party. There must be discipline... for that's what discipleship is all about!

No wonder prayers are ineffectual because people are full of self, and they walk in disobedience. Families are being ravaged because they love the worship music, but they are not in the Word. Reveling is where self is gratified. Our needs, our desires, we feel good.
The Body has misunderstood worship. It is not about what you "get", it is what you give! It is not about being blessed, it is about blessing God. Worship is giving to God!
People like to shout. They like to dance. They like to be loud, but they have not disciplined themselves to receive the meat... they want the sweet things! They have been seduced.

God is calling His church to a time of discipline. A time of denying self and what we want, and to receiving what God has to give us, for He knows what we have need of!

Cohen Drops Out, But....

Last week I wrote a blog about Scott Cohen, the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor for Illinois. (Scroll down the page if you have not seen it) It was funny because the day I blogged about this, it began to hit the news media and became a national story. Finally Cohen has dropped out of the race after his own party really turned the heat up on him to do so.
But my question is still the same....
What in the world is wrong with Illinois voters that they would vote for this man in the first place?!?!?!
None of this was a surprise. His stories have been well documented. But they voted for him anyway.
I'm beginning to think that Illinois is the at the threshold of Hell.

Christians and Ecology.

OK, I've got people worked up again. I seem to have the ability to do that, and quite well. Yesterday in my sermon, really as a side note, I talked about the runaway ecological efforts of some that are putting human beings at extreme risk and danger, for the sake of a bug, a minnow and so on. I pointed out that Genesis 1:28 says "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." I think most people understood what I was saying, but some took it to the extreme, and supposedly I said that man can destroy the earth if he wants to. I never said that, and I will not back down off of what I said. When the life of a bug or a minnow or a tree means more than that of a human, then we are violating the Word of God. Period.

I have never been able to figure out why people want to go to opposite ends of the polar spectrum when it comes to issues like this. The fact is that if you go into a bookstore and begin looking at the latest books on "going green" you will find that far more times than not, the authors will blame pollution, global warming, land erosion and so on, on Christians and the Bible. It seems that to most environmentalists, allowing man have "dominion" over the animals and to "subdue" the earth means that God has told man that he has a free rein to do absolutely anything he wants to the earth, to abuse it, and mess it up, all for his own benefit. They will scream that the planet and the animals have rights too, and that we don't have the right to mine it, burn it and not give a second thought to the damage being inflicted.

That is far from the truth. Nowhere did God give man authority to destroy His creation. The environmentalists are correct in saying that man should be concerned and address ecological concerns. But they are very wrong to blame God for ecological problems. God is not responsible for man's neglect of nature.

For anyone to think that God has given Carte Blanche to plunder the earth is simply absurd. Think about this; He (God) is the creator. Tell me, why in the world would the creator turn right around and hand His creation over to Adam and command him to mess it up? That would be like a master carpenter creating a beautiful piece of furniture and then telling his children to smash it and turn it into firewood. God's plan and desire is for man to care for it, keeping it and prolonging it's life. In fact, if one simply reads the Bible in context, it becomes perfectly clear what God's plan is, for in Genesis 2 God defines and clarifies His Genesis 1:26 & 28 instructions. In Genesis 2:15 it says; "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to dress and keep it." The NIV says "to work and take care of it." That does not sound like He intended for it to be plundered. Notice, we are caretakers. A caretaker's charge is to tend to, maintain and protect that which has been put in his charge so that he can return it to it's owner in good condition. It is our responsibility to take care of that which belongs to God.

So, what about putting the value of the lives of fish, bugs or other animals over that of human beings? I think that is pretty clear when God gave all these to man. Genesis 1:29 - 30 says, "Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and the creatures that move on the ground... everything that has breath of life in it... I give every green plant for food." In other words... it is ours to use.

Today we see a group of men putting the lives of dolphins, whales, insects and minnows as having more value than that of a man, woman or child. This is in direct opposition to the Word of God. Take care of the planet? Absolutely. But man is God's highest creation, and as such, the life of a human and the well being of human beings as a whole trumps a plant, animal or anything else, every time.

Wrong Reasons to Love the Church

I received this today in an email and I loved it so much I wanted to share it. I don't know who this Josh Harris is, but I'd like to find the rest of this message. Hope you get something out of this too!

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Do you love the church? On what is your love based?

Is your love for the church based on infatuation or is it based on truth?

Josh Harris asked his readers that question. His answer was dead on.

Take note:

Do you love the church?

Romans 12:10 tells Christians to “Love one another with brotherly affection.”

The affection and love we’re to have for fellow-Christians is to be based on the work of Jesus Christ for us. It’s not about elitism, it’s not because Christians are better than anyone else, it certainly isn’t because Christians are necessarily more lovable.

We love the church because we love the Savior who redeemed the church.

Acts 20:28 tells us that Jesus obtained the church with his own blood. Is this what your love for the church is based on?

If it’s anything less, it won’t last long.

• Don’t love the church because of what it does for you. Because sooner or later it won’t do enough.
• Don’t love the church because of a leader. Because human leaders are fallible and will let you down.
• Don’t love the church because of a program or a building or activities because all those things get old.
• Don’t love the church because of a certain group of friends because friendships change and people move.

Love the church because of who shed his blood to obtain the church.

Love the church because of who the church belongs to.

Love the church because of who the church worships.

Love the church because you love Jesus Christ and his glory.

Love the church because Jesus is worthy and faithful and true.

Love the church because Jesus loves the church.

Excerpted from the sermon “We Are Here to Love the Church.”

Only In Illinois

Illinois has long been known for it's own unique brand of politics. Corrupt and disgraceful describes it well. Let the legacy continue. For those who do not know, here in Illinois Governors and Lt. Governors are elected separately. This week in our State's primary the Democrats nominated Scott Lee Cohen, a pawnbroker and cleaning supply distributor. He is the latest "darling boy" who came out of no where to win this nomination. But who is Scott Lee Cohen? It's not really hard to find out some interesting (disturbing) facts about him. I did a simple Google search and I came up with the following information. I wonder why voters did not do the same?

According to a report in the Chicago Daily Herald, Cohen was arrested in 2005 and charged with domestic battery against his 24 year old girlfriend. The woman alleged that Cohen put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against the wall. A little more digging and I found that in the police arrest report, dated October 14, 2005, they detailed a complaint from the 24-year-old woman. They (the Chicago police) noted they observed “mild abrasions from knife wound” on her neck and “minor scars on her hand from her trying to defend herself against the arrestee swinging the knife at her.” That arrest report states that the woman was treated by ambulance personnel but not taken to a hospital. In the typical Chicago politics way of doing things, the charges were ultimately dropped though because the woman failed to show up in court becasue she was in jail for prostitution. Current Illinois Governor, Pat Quinn, who despite taking Illinois to the brink of bankruptcy was voted by Dem's to be their nominee for Governor in the fall election has already suggested that Cohen step aside and let someone else run on the ticket this fall. Cohen has flatly rejected that notion and has stated he intends to see this thing through. One of the things that I found almost laughable is that in an interview this week on "Chicago Tonight" on WTTW-TV channel 11, Cohen disputes the police report and claims that he never touched his ex-girlfriend. He stated, "I raised my voice, she raised her voice and the next thing I know she's calling the police." It gets worse. At that time (2005) Cohen was in the process of a divorce, in which his wife testified that he was physically abusive and wrote threatening messages in lipstick on her mirror and had on several occasions attempted to force her to have sex. That's attempted rape folks!

Again, Chicago politics prevail. His now ex-wife appeared in this interview with him and said, "I am here to support him if I can." She was asked about the statements in the divorce proceedings and she re-affirmed those statements as being true, but stated, "That was who he was then. That is not who he is now." In defense of himself and his actions in 2005, Cohen stated in this interview that he was abusing steroids at that time. Yep... this guy has been voted by Illinois Democrats to be their nominee for Lt. Governor. But what can you expect from a State like Illinois. Currently, one Illinois Governor is sitting in prison. Another is on his way. Go back just a few years and you will find another Illinois Governor who went to prison.

It's just politics as usual for this State.

The REAL Deficit Numbers

OK... I've stayed away from political things for quite some time because some people were getting really upset with me, but this has to be shared. This one is NOT my opinion, this was written by Dick Morris and I felt people need to read the truth about the numbers that our President and his staff are throwing out there. Read this carefully before you try to blame this mess on George Bush.


President Obama is being disingenuous when he says that the budget deficit he faced "when I walked in the door" of the White House was $1.3 trillion. He went on to say that he only increased it to $1.4 trillion in 2009 and was raising it to $1.6 trillion in 2010.

Congressman Joe Wilson might have said "you lie," but we'll settle for "you distort."

(As Mark Twain once said, there are three kinds of lies: "lies, damn lies, and statistics.")

Here are the facts:

In 2008, Bush ran a deficit of $485 billion. By the time the fiscal year started on October 1, 2008, it had gone up by another $100 billion due to increased recession-related spending and depressed revenues. So it was about $600 billion at the start of the fiscal crisis. That was the real Bush deficit.

But when the fiscal crisis hit, Bush had to pass TARP in the final months of his presidency which cost $700 billion. Under the federal budget rules, a loan and a grant are treated the same. So the $700 billion pushed the deficit -- officially -- up to $1.3 trillion. But not really. The $700 billion was a short term loan. $500 billion of it has already been repaid.

So what was the real deficit Obama inherited? The $600 billion deficit Bush was running plus the $200 billion of TARP money that probably won't be repaid (mainly AIG and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). That totals $800 billion. That was the real deficit Obama inherited.

Then...he added $300 billion in his stimulus package, bringing the deficit to $1.1 trillion. This $300 billion was, of course, totally qualitatively different from the TARP money in that it was spending not lending. It would never be paid back. Once it was out the door, it was gone. Other spending and falling revenues due to the recession pushed the final numbers for Obama's 2009 deficit up to $1.4 trillion.

So, effectively, Obama came close to doubling the deficit.

Obama seems not to understand that the deficit is the jobs problem. To add to the deficit in the hope of creating more jobs is an oxymoron. Additional deficit spending just crowds out small businesses trying to borrow money to create jobs and consumers seeking credit to buy cars and homes.

Soon, when the Fed stops printing money and we have to borrow real funds from real lenders, the high deficit will send interest rates soaring, further retarding growth and creating a cost-push inflation.

The interest rate we are now paying for the debt -- about 3.5% -- is totally artificial and based on the massive injection of money supply created by the purchase of mortgage backed securities by an obliging Federal Reserve. Once these injections of currency/heroin stop, the rate will more than double, sending our debt service spending into the stratosphere. Once we had to choose between guns and butter. Now we will have to choose between guns and butter on the one hand and paying our debt service on the other.

Obama's program of fiscal austerity in this new budget is a joke. He freezes very selected budget items while he shovels out new spending in his stimulus packages. If he wanted to lower the deficit, here's what he could do:

1. Cancel the remaining $500 billion of stimulus spending and

2. Cancel the $300 billion of spending in stimulus II.

Those are the real numbers. Or, as Al Gore would have it, "the inconvenient truth."