The year 2010 is almost history. In my time zone, there are seven more hours left until we ring in the new year. Time seems to be flying swiftly by. I can vividly recall when I was a teenager. I remember the year 1984 very candidly. It doesn't seem like it's been that long ago since 1984. Now 26 years have passed since them. It seems that time passes by more swiftly than ever. James 4:14 says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Time is brief. It's here today, gone tomorrow. I've listened to older people speak and I've heard them say repeatedly that life is brief. It just seems like yesterday since they graduated from high school. That's what I hear from them all the time. Time is a precious commodity. I hope your new year will be full of promises and very fruitful.
There are several news stories I could cover that transpired this past year, but I'm only going to mention a few. The biggest news on the political scene to begin with is that President Obama signed the healthcare bill in March, which Congress passed at the end of last year. Obamacare, another name for the healthcare legislation signed into law in March, is a major piece of legislation which will fundamentally transform our country. It will give our government control over 1/6th of the nation's economy. Many attorney generals from several different states have sued the government over Obamacare. This law shouldn't pass muster by the courts because it's in no way constitutional. Whether or not the courts reject it depends on the type of judges that sit on the federal courts. Many Republicans in Congress have been stating that they are going to repeal and replace healthcare if they regain power once again. There's no way the Republicans can repeal and replace this bill while Barack Obama is president and the Senate is still in Democratic hands. However, the House can defund the healthcare bill since spending bills originate in the House. Whether or not incoming House Speaker John Boehner will stick to that pledge remains to be seen. I wouldn't hold my breath. We see the government on a daily basis shredding the Constitution and moving us closer towards fascism.
On November 2nd the American people spoke and voted out large numbers of Democrats in the House of Representatives. The Republicans gained 63 seats in the House, six seats in the Senate, and won several gubernatorial races nationwide. Republicans won the majority of gubernatorial elections this year. Republicans gained control of several state legislatures as well nationwide. It will definitely change the makeup when it comes to political redistricting given this year another census was taken. As I speak, Texas has gained six representatives in the latest census results. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) will be the new Speaker of the House, while outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be the House Minority Leader. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada won a contested race with Tea Party-backed and Republican candidate Sharron Angle. Reid will retain his position as Senator Majority Leader. Speaking of elections, in the special election in Massachusetts to replace the deceased Senator Ted Kennedy's seat, Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley to become the first Republican to win a Senate race in Massachusetts since Edward Brooke in 1966. That was a very surprising win. Many have speculated Brown won that seat due to the House and Senate voting on healthcare at the end of 2009. Another reason is the Massachusetts' state legislature, under former governor Mitt Romney passd a healthcare bill which has been costly in Massachusetts. I guarantee you Obamacare will be costly if it isn't defunded.
On April 20, there was a major explosion which proved to be one of the costliest concerning major oil spills. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest oil spill disaster ever in the history of this country, eclipsing the Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska in March 1989. Millions of gallons of oil were spilled out into the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the sea floor. The oil spill continued gushing out until a cap was placed on the ruptured well on July 15. The well was permanently killed on September 19, 2010. As a result of this incident, the Obama administration has isued a moratorium on future oil drillings. Since that time, gas prices have been steadily rising. As of this week, gas prices on the national average are over $3 a gallon and are likely to continue climbing. Former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister made the prediction that gas prices could climb to $5 a gallon in 2012.
On February 20, 2010, Glenn Beck spoke at the CPAC Convention, which stands for Conservative Political Action Committee. He was the keynote speaker. He was by far the best speaker of that convention. He was extolling the virtues of America and mentioned the things that made us great as a country. His speech wasn't about Democrats vs. Republicans. He dealt with the heart of the problem and stated he hasn't seen the Republican Party have their come-to-Jesus movement. It didn't bode well with some Republicans such as William Bennett, for example, but that is the truth. On another special occasion on August 28, 2010, Glenn Beck hosted the "Restoring Honor" rally. Beck spoke along with a host of other speakers such as Sarah Palin and Alveda King, niece of the slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to name a few. Nobody knew the actual crowd size, but I would estimate there was over a half-a-million in attendance. There was an alternate rally on October 2 called the One Nation rally, which was a gathering of a group of Progressives and Communists. Speakers such as Al Sharpton and Ed Shultz spoke at that rally. There was a large group there, but most of them came from unions and they were made to attend. I doubt the numbers at the One Nation rally was quite as large as the Restoring Honor rally. The national media hyped up the One Nation rally. The atmosphere at the One Nation rally didn't equal the Restoring Honor rally. The Restoring Honor rally was a God and Country rally. It was very ecumenical and it had all kinds of religious leaders partcipating. Beck referred to those religious leaders as the Black Robed Regiment.
Following the romping the Democrats received on the November 2nd elections, the lame duck session of Congress began on November 15 and ended on December 22. You couldn't tell Congress had experienced a stinging defeat by the way the lame duck session of Congress was conducting business. They voted on major bills that they should've allowed the next Congress deal with. Congress voted to extend the tax cuts for two more years but they added an extension of unemployment benefits for several more months along with that benefit. Congress thankfully didn't vote for the Dream Act, but I guarantee you they'll vote for it eventually. Congress voted to repeal the "Don't ask, don't tell" military policy which stated that military recruits couldn't specify whether they were homosexual or heterosexual nor could the military ask whether a military recruit was homosexual. The Senate voted for the START Treaty, which is a treaty with Russia where the United States and Russia agree to reduce their nuclear arsenals. The Senate tried to pass an omnibus spending bill, which would total $1.1 trillion dollars, but that failed. Our elected elite loaded the bills that were passed with all kinds of pork, so they definitely had their cake and ate it too.
There were several famous people that died this past year. Here are the names of some of the famous people who died: Alexander Haig-Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, Art Linkletter- a TV personality, Robert Byrd-- longtime U.S. Senator from West Virginia, Miep Gies--Dutch secretary who defied Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family during World War II. Ted Stevens--former U.S. Senator from Alaska, John Murtha--a gruff ex-Marine and Pennsylvania Congressman, Theodore Sorenson--speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, John Wooden--former basketball coach who coached at UCLA, George Steinbrenner--New York Yankees owner, Don Meredith--former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who played in two NFL championship games, Darryl Gates--former Los Angeles police chief, Merlin Olsen--former NFL Hall of Famer, Glenn Bell Jr--entrepreneur who founded Taco Bell, Gary Coleman--chubby-cheeked child star of TV's Different Strokes.
These are just a few of the stories of 2010. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and be safe this evening!
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