New Constitution of Hungary safeguards Marriage, the Unborn

The new Constitution of Hungary went into effect on January 1st, 2012. In many ways it provides a model to other countries in safeguarding Christian values.

The protection of the right to life and human dignity from the moment of conception. "Human dignity shall be inviolable. Everyone shall have the right to life and human dignity; the life of the fetus shall be protected from the moment of conception." (Article II)

Protection of the family and the institution of heterosexual marriage. (1) Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage, understood to be the conjugal union of a man and a woman based on their independent consent; Hungary shall also protect the institution of the family, which it recognises as the basis for survival of the nation. (2) Hungary shall promote the commitment to have and raise children. (Article K)

The condemnation of practices aimed at eugenics. “Practices aimed at eugenics, the use of the human body or its parts for financial gain, or human cloning shall be prohibited.” (Article III)

The Reaffirmation of the Underlying Christian Values of the Hungarian State and Society. The Preamble declares Hungary is “proud that one thousand years ago its King, Saint Stephen, based the Hungarian State on solid foundations, and made the country a part of Christian Europe.” Moreover, Hungary explicitly “acknowledges the role that Christianity has played in preserving the nation”. (Preamble)

The Cooperation between Church and State. "In Hungary the State and the churches shall be separated. Churches shall be independent. For the attainment of community goals, the State shall cooperate with the churches." (Article VI)

The country's governing Fidesz party pushed the law through parliament in April 2011 after winning a two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections. On January 2, 2012, mainstream media reported "tens of thousands" of people protesting in Budapest over the new constitution. The EU and US had also asked for the constitution to be withdrawn. But the constitution is supported by the overwhelming majority of Hungarian citizenry, which few reports have noted.

This constitution is a symbol of a growing trend among new EU Member States to protect life and the family. As the Turtle Bay and Beyond blog noted when it was drafted in April:

It is amazing how quickly the condemnation of the new constitution has arisen. Comments regarding the lack of transparency in its drafting and the fact that it did not follow a referendum have come pouring out of leftist EU institutions. Funny how these institutions never condemn the lack of democratic fairness or lack of transparency when legislation is rushed promoting their issues. The fact is, the new Hungarian government enjoys a super majority because the people of Hungary so voted. The new constitution is a symbol of that vision.

(quotes from the new Hungarian Constitution taken from http://www.eclj.org/pdf/ECLJ_Memorendum-Hungarian-Constitution_20110519.pdf. For more detail see Constitution of Hungary on Wikipedia.)

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Abortion operates in a politically protected bubble

The Philadelphia Grand Jury investigation of the Gosnell abortion clinic scandal exposed allegations of murder of women and babies under the guise of medical care.

Even more, the Grand Jury revealed hat the abortion business in Pennsylvania has for many years operated in a politically protected "bubble," performing more than 35,000 abortions a year while escaping common medical standards.

On the Pennsylvania House floor, House bill HB 574 and Senate bill SB 732 are in process to add tough, common sense medical regulations over abortion clinics.

The most surprising moment was when State Rep. Margo Davidson, Democrat from Delaware county, stood to say her 22-year-old cousin died of an infection after visiting Gosnell's clinic 11 years ago. She gave an impassioned plea for the bill, despite being the sole member of the Black Caucus to vote for the bill. "It's still emotionally riveting all these years later," said Davidson. "She didn't have to die."

State Rep. Rick Saccone, Republican Allegheny county said:

"I ask my colleagues to look behind them on the ceiling above and remember the Scripture there from John, chapter 8, verse 32: 'Then you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.' Mr. Speaker, until these clinics are properly and regularly inspected, we will never know the truth of how many Gosnells are out there. I ask my colleagues: Among you, who will champion those who cannot speak for themselves? I implore you to face the truth and force those clinics out of the darkness and into the light!"

(excerpted from Thomas J. Shaheen, Pennsylvania Citizen, Pennsylvania Family Institute, September 2011 newsletter)

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One area where U.S. leads the World: Expenditures on Presidential Administration

The United States under Barack Obama is word leader in Presidential administration expenditures. The Executive Office of the President costs taxpayers $1.5 billion a year in operating costs, or $4.2 million per day, according to the Ukrainian website Korrespondent. His daily expenditure is equal to the average monthly income of 1200 U.S. citizens.

This is an increase from $341 million a year in 2005 under George W. Bush. The EOP includes the President's chief of staff, policy evaluators, press secretary, speechwriters, and other "communications" aides, travel planners, itinerary schedulers, multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The core White House Staff appointments do not require Senate approval, For more information, see Wikipedia.

Here's how the U.S. stacks up against some other countries, in terms of the number of average citizen monthly incomes required to support their leaders (prime ministers or presidents) operating on a daily basis, administration costs only:

Country	Citizens	Daily	Yearly
U.S.	1200	$4.2M	$1.5B
Russia	977	$706k	$258M
Ukraine	675	$229k	$84M
France	169	$440k	$161M
Poland	136	$151k	$55M
Spain	63	$169k	$62M
Germany	51	$163k	$60M
Czech Republic	35	$49k	$18M
Finland	22	$93k	$34M

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Want a True Stimulus? Thorium Reactors instead of Oil in Just Five Years

An abundant metal with vast energy potential could quickly wean the world off oil, if only Western political leaders would muster the will to do it, a UK newspaper says. James Quinn of The Telegraph makes the case for thorium reactors as the key to a fossil-fuel-free world within five years, and puts the ball firmly in President Barack Obama's court, see his article Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium.

Thorium, named for the Norse god of thunder, is much more abundant than uranium and has 200 times that metal's energy potential. Thorium is also a more efficient fuel source -- unlike natural uranium, which must be highly refined before it can be used in nuclear reactors, all thorium is potentially usable as fuel. It is so abundant that it's almost an annoyance. Thorium is considered a waste product when mining for rare-earth metals.

Thorium-fueled MSR reactor,
click here for details.

The Telegraph says a $1.8 billion (£1.2 billion) project could lead to a network of tiny underground nuclear reactors, producing about 600 MW each. Their wee size would negate the enormous security apparatus required of full-size nuclear power plants. Thorium also solves the non-proliferation problem. Nuclear non-proliferation treaties (NPT) prohibit processes that can yield atomic bomb ingredients, making it difficult to refine highly radioactive isotopes. But thorium-based accelerator-driven plants only produce a small amount of plutonium, which could allow the U.S. and other nations to skirt NPT.

The Telegraph says Obama needs a Roosevelt moment, recalling the famous breakfast meeting when Albert Einstein convinced the president to start the Manhattan Project. A thorium stimulus could be just what the lagging economy needs.

(Summarized from Rebecca Boyle, Development of Tiny Thorium Reactors Could Wean the World Off Oil In Just Five Years, Popular Science, August 2010)

---

Newer nuclear reactor designs, collectively called Generation IV, include the thorium-powered molten-salt reactor (MSR). In an MSR, liquid thorium would replace the solid uranium fuel used in today’s plants, a change that would make meltdowns all but impossible.

MSRs were developed at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1960s and ran for a total of 22,000 hours between 1965 and 1969. “It was not a full system, but it showed you could successfully design and operate a molten-salt reactor,” says Oak Ridge physicist Jess Gehin, a senior program manager in the lab’s Nuclear Technology Programs office.

The MSR design has two primary safety advantages. Its liquid fuel remains at much lower pressures than the solid fuel in light-water plants. This greatly decreases the likelihood of an accident, such as the hydrogen explosions that occurred at Fukushima. Further, in the event of a power outage, a frozen salt plug within the reactor melts and the liquid fuel passively drains into tanks where it solidifes, stopping the fission reaction. “The molten-salt reactor is walk-away safe,” Kutsch says. “If you just abandoned it, it had no power, and the end of the world came--a comet hit Earth--it would cool down and solidify by itself.”

Because of this efficiency, a thorium MSR would produce far less waste than today’s plants. Uranium-based waste will remain hazardous for tens of thousands of years. With thorium, it’s more like a few hundred. As well, raw thorium is not fissile in and of itself, so it is not easily weaponized. “It can’t be used as a bomb,” Kutsch says. “You could have 1,000 pounds in your basement, and nothing would happen.”

 One ton of thorium: as much energy
as 200 tons of uranium

One nuclear plant provides the energy equivalent of 1,200 windmills or 20 square miles of solar panels.Without the need for large cooling towers, MSRs can be much smaller than typical light-water plants, both physically and in power capacity. Today’s average nuclear power plant generates about 1,000 megawatts. A thorium-fueled MSR might generate as little as 50 megawatts. Smaller, more numerous plants could save on transmission loss (which can be up to 30 percent on the present grid). The U.S. Army is interested in using MSRs to power individual bases, Kutsch says, and Google, which relies on steady power to keep its servers running, held a conference on thorium reactors last year. “The company would love to have a 70- or 80-megawatt reactor sitting next door to a data center,” Kutsch says.

Even with military and corporate support, the transition to a new type of nuclear power generation is likely to be slow, at least in the U.S. Light-water reactors are already established, and no regulations exist to govern other reactor designs. Outside the U.S., the transition could come more quickly.

In January 2011 the Chinese government launched a thorium reactor program. “The Chinese Academy of Sciences has approved development of an MSR with relatively near-term deployment--maybe 10 years,” says Gehin, who thinks the Chinese decision may increase work on the technology worldwide. Even after Fukushima, “there’s still interest in advanced nuclear,” he says. “I don’t see that changing.”

(Summarized from Kalee Thompson, Concepts & Prototypes: Two Next-Gen Nukes, Popular Science, July 2011)

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Israeli missile defense test June 22nd

Israel is preparing for a major war and in the worst case scenario, it could be attacked from all directions. On June 22nd, 2011, there will be a major test of our newest anti-missile protection system and a test of citizenry readiness for a new, this time much bigger, military conflict. We are getting gas masks just in case. Most everyone already has them, but we keep delaying to go to the mask distribution center to get those for the whole family. No one is panicking, but it is clear that things may get worse rather suddenly. All should be well, but we would appreciate your prayers for protection, wisdom, and blessing in regard to this.

(from a Messianic Jewish prayer letter, June 2011)

Here is additional info, from Israel’s Arrow Theater Missile Defense:

In a dawning age of rogue states, ballistic missile defenses are steadily become a widely accepted necessity. Iran is widely believed to be developing nuclear capabilities, and Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map.” Because missile defenses are so important, states like Israel have taken steps to ensure that they have the ability to build many of the key pieces. The Arrow project is a collaboration between Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries to produce the missile interceptors that accompany the required radars, satellites, command and control systems.

On July 27, 2010: The United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense voted to fund Israel’s missile defense programs at $422.7 million for 2011, nearly $96 million above the original White House funding request. This represents a doubling of aid for missile defense from 2010, in the wake of an emerging consensus that the CIA’s 2007 estimate of Iran’s nuclear weapons program was wrong, and underestimated Iranian progress.

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UK Prime Minister speaking out against easy tolerance to Muslims

Alarmed by Islamic militants who have made Britain an active base for terrorist plots, Prime Minister David Cameron is speaking out against the country's decades-old policy of liberal multiculturalism. He says "hands-off tolerance" has encouraged segregated communities where Islamic extremism thrives and terrorist are free to recruit young Muslims.

Pray that government leaders will take note and institute effective policies to address the situation.

(from a Christian prayer letter, May 2011)

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The Orwellian Nature of the End Times

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." (George Orwell, from an unpublished preface written for Animal Farm)

This has profound meaning today in societies that are trying to limit the spread of the gospel, through persecution of Christians, or the political correctness of collectivist and atheist elites which seeks to make the gospel irrelevant. George Orwell understood the evil that lurks in the collective will of people who attempt to stamp out truth. This is most famously expressed in his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Peter Lewis, in The Road to 1984, a biography of George Orwell, writes (pp. 16-17):

"Orwell is read today because he asked questions to which he did not pretend there were answers. He saw why revolutions always go wrong, why plans for equality end in proving that some are more equal than others, and how, in the name of a new order, the collective will abuses its power over the individual.

"One of the things Orwell bequeathed us was the adjective 'Orwellian' - commonly employed, hard to define. It is a frightening word, generally applied to a society organized to crush and dehumanize the individual, sometimes signifying the alienation of that individual if he dares to rebel, like Winston Smith of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Virtually all Orwell's novels have the same plot: the rebel or outsider seeking to escape from a hostile, monolithic society, attempting to make a more natural life for himself, and then being forced back into the slot assigned to him in the system. It reaches its highest development, or deepest despair, in Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is impossible to read it now without comparing it with the Gulag Archipelago, its camps and its psychiatric hospitals. Today there are now prisons in many countries like the old Soviet Lubianka, everywhere they resemble almost uncannily Orwell's Ministry of Love.

"It was with the lonely outsider, the rebel, that Orwell naturally identified himself. Had he lived in a totalitarian society, he knew he would have been eliminated with all possible speed. He was a Solzhenitsyn without a Gulag. No one, he said, would write books unless driven by 'some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand'. The knowledge that he spoke for such victims and the danger that there would be many more, in many more lands, even perhaps in his beloved England, was surely Orwell's demon."

The Christian can compare Orwell's prophecies with what the Bible tells us about the end times. We live in days where persecution of the gospel is closing in around us, our avenues of liberty are being cut off. We need to teach our children to cling to Christ through all the trials that are coming to this world!

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Taxing Churches in the U.S.

More early signs of persecution of the church, this time in the United States... A pastor from Pennsylvania asks, "In our nation, under our Constitution, churches and other religious entities are exempt from taxation. So why was our church targeted?"

21 Ripple Brook Rd, Centermoreland

Tunkhannock, PA 18657

570.333.5185

Pastor James Howell

Ian Bonthron, Youth

Northmoreland Baptist Church

April, 2011

Dear Friends,

As the pastor of a small but vibrant church in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it has been my joy to serve my congregation and the Tunkhannock community for 28 years. We are a Bible-believing church, made up of people who love the Lord, and who are faithful, taxpaying citizens of the Commonwealth.

I am sure you can imagine my dismay when, to my surprise, I received a property tax bill from the county for a portion of our new church building. This was not right and so I went to the county commissioners to challenge this tax - to no avail.

As Christians, I understand that we are to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's," but in our nation; under our Constitution; churches and other religious entities are exempt from taxation. So why was our church targeted?

I turned to a national legal ministry, but they were unable to help. Then someone told me about the Pennsylvania Family Institute and its Independence Law Center. I gave Attorney Randy Wenger a call, and he signed up to help us immediately. He tells me the law and precedent are on our side, and he has filed an appeal on our behalf.

I would ask you to pray for our case (which could ultimately impact many churches) and for the Pennsylvania Family Institute. We are benefiting from the hard work and expertise which I understand is made possible by generous gifts from people like you. Thank you, too, for helping!

I am grateful that the Independence Law Center was there when we needed them, and pray they continue to have the resources to help others facing similar challenges.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor James Howell

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Japan Does Not Face Another Chernobyl

"With all the death, devastation and disease now threatening tens of thousands in Japan, it is trivializing and almost obscene to spend so much time worrying about damage to a nuclear reactor.

"The containment structures appear to be working, and the latest reactor designs aren't vulnerable to the coolant problem at issue here.

"The decay heat must be absorbed, and as a last-ditch effort the emergency core cooling system can be activated to flood the entire containment structure with water. This will do considerable damage to the reactor but will prevent any further steam releases. The Japanese have now reportedly done this using seawater in at least two of the troubled reactors. These reactors will never be restarted.

"If a meltdown does occur in Japan, it will be a disaster for the Tokyo Electric Power Company but not for the general public. Whatever steam releases occur will have a negligible impact. Researchers have spent 30 years trying to find health effects from the steam releases at Three Mile Island and have come up with nothing.

(excerpted from William Tucker, Japan Does Not Face Another Chernobyl, Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2011)

Please pray for the Japanese people who are suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami!

Texas Realizes the Evolutionary Emperor doesn't have all His Clothes...

The Texas state board of education has issued a call for supplementary materials, to address issues that the current high school biology books lack. For instance, the current books do not address “scientific explanations concerning any data of sudden appearance, stasis, and sequential nature of groups in the fossil record” or “scientific explanations concerning the complexity of the cell,” which the standards now require students to “analyze and evaluate.”

In both of the standards mentioned above, there are no evolutionary explanations. While evolution-only proponents lamented the adoption of the new standards last year, pro-science and academic freedom advocates saw them as an opportunity for students to really “analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations.

“I’m super-excited about [the new standards],” said Dr. Don McLeroy, who has served on the State Board of Education since 1998. “And all we need is one student in a biology classroom to ask, ‘Could you explain how evolution explains this or that?’ [Evolution] has no explanations.”

No doubt, special interest groups will weigh in on Texas’ decision. The supplemental materials for consideration must be submitted by February 25, 2011, after which review panels will evaluate them to see if they meet the new standards. McLeroy said the public should also have access to the materials in March. The board will then choose which supplements to adopt at the April 13-15, 2011, board meeting.

(excerpts from Cite this article: Dao, C. 2011. Texas Schools Seek Science Supplements. Acts & Facts. 40 (2): 19.)

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References (selected)

1. Science TEKS Transition Analysis Resources, Grades K-12. Texas Education Agency. Posted on tea.state.tx.us, accessed December 15, 2010.

2. Dao, C. Evolutionists, Atheists Admit Defeat in Texas. ICR News. Posted on icr.org April 3, 2009, accessed December 15, 2010.

Human Rights Watch slams West for 'cowardice' on rights issues

The reluctance of democratic countries to defend the rights of persecuted Christians around the world is now bearing unfortunate consequences - now non-Christians are also increasingly losing their freedoms around the world as well.

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RFE/RL reports: An international rights group has accused Western powers of not doing enough to pressure abusive regimes to protect basic human rights.

The 648-page Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, a compendium of human rights abuses reported around the world in the past year, criticizes the democracies for their “soft reaction” to repressive regimes.

The report singles out the United States, the European Union and the United Nations for failing to put enough pressure on abusive governments, highlighting what it called a “near-universal cowardice in confronting China’s deepening crackdown on basic liberties.” HRW also charged Western leaders, particularly U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, and U.S. President Barack Obama with focusing too much on dialogue and not enough on confronting abuses.

Leaders of authoritarian governments welcome an emphasis on dialogue because it is likely to “remove the spotlight from human rights discussions.”

The report notes that defending human rights “may sometimes interfere with other governmental interests,” adding that if so, “they should at least have the courage to admit it, instead of hiding behind meaningless dialogues and fruitless quests for cooperation.”

“It became very fashionable in the last couple of years to prefer dialogue – so called dialogue and silent diplomacy – to naming and shaming. And we think it didn’t do any good for human rights worldwide. It showed, actually, that talk behind closed doors doesn’t lead to any improvement in this area.”

(for more, see http://www.rferl.org/content/human_rights_watch_report_/2285529.html)(originally referenced in Ukrainian Weekly, January 30, 2011, 89(5), pp.1, 11)

Choose Life, that You and Your Children may Live (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Through 2008, the estimated number of abortions in the United States since the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling is estimated to be over 50 million.

Let us grieve for them, and not forget. Let us uphold those mothers and fathers who are truly sorry for their action.

"Even so, it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
(the words of Jesus, Matthew 18:14)

'Homosexuality is a sin’ street preacher wins £7k from British police

A street preacher wrongly arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin has won substantial damages as U.K. police chiefs issue new guidelines telling officers to be more thick-skinned.

(reported by Jonathan Petre, Daily Mail)

Dale Mcalpine was held for seven hours and charged with a public-order offence in April after telling a gay police community support officer (PCSO) that he believed homosexuals were acting against the word of God. He was accused of uttering ‘threatening, abusive or insulting’ words ‘to cause harassment, alarm or distress’ contrary to Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

But the charges were dropped after the case was highlighted by The Mail on Sunday and now police in Cumbria have agreed to pay him £7,000 in compensation as well as his legal costs, potentially an extra £10,000.

The payout came as new national guidance was issued to police following growing criticism of their heavy-handed treatment of Christians expressing their religious views.

Keeping The Peace, published by the Association of Chief Police Officers, says officers must be aware that the right to free speech allows people to express unpopular views as long as ‘their conduct is reasonable or the actual or potential violence provoked in others is “wholly unreasonable” ’.

Pressure is mounting on the Government to reform the Public Order Act when it introduces its Freedom Bill in the New Year. Campaigners want the word ‘insulting’ removed from Section 5 of the Act because they believe it leaves street preachers and others vulnerable to arrest.

At a magistrates’ court hearing his trial date was set for September, but coverage of his treatment provoked a public outcry.

Mr Mcalpine said last night: ‘I am delighted the police are going to apologise. It is not about the money but about freedom of speech. I hope the police will in future do their duty defending freedom of speech.’

The Christian Institute, which backed his case, said: ‘We’re obviously pleased that Cumbria Police has seen common sense. But Mr Mcalpine should not have been arrested in the first place. Sadly, it’s not an isolated case. The Government needs to amend the Public Order Act as a matter of urgency.’

Earlier this month, street preacher Anthony Rollins, who was handcuffed and arrested for condemning homosexuality, was awarded £4,250 in damages following a court case against West Midlands Police. Even homosexual rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has called for reform of the law.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1339843/Homosexuality-sin-street-preacher-wins-7k-police

Freedom of Religion is more than Freedom of Worship

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have started using the term “freedom of worship” instead of “freedom of religion.”

That small change has vast implications should those words signal a change in official policy. Freedom of religion implies your freedom to assemble, proselytize, and conduct your personal life in a manner reflective of your religious beliefs. Freedom of worship is and can be limited to mere personal and private expressions of religious beliefs, negating all public demonstrations of what one believes. Worship can be confined to a designated place—or restricted to one’s private thoughts.

Remember Mark Twain’s observation? “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.”

(Henry M. Morris, III, D.Min, Acts & Facts, December 2010, Institute for Creation Research)

What does Obamacare looks like?

"Find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy" - Nancy Pelosi

"The new law creates 68 grant programs, 47 bureaucratic entities, 29 demonstration or pilot programs, six regulatory systems, six compliance standards and two entitlements.....

"One of the more illuminating remarks during the health-care debate in Congress came when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told an audience that Democrats would 'pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it, away from the fog of controversy'....

"To fill this vacuum, Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee, asked his staff to prepare a study of the law, including a flow chart that illustrates how the major provisions will work.

"The result, made public July 28, provides citizens with a preview of the impact the health-care overhaul will have on their lives.

"The Democrats’ takeover of health care creates a byzantine network of 159 new federal programs and bureaucracies to make decisions that should be between just the patient and their doctor

"Based on the administration’s own numbers, as many as 117 million people might have to change their health plans by 2013 as their employer-provided coverage loses its grandfathered status and becomes subject to the new Obamacare mandates.

"In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

• $569 billion in higher taxes;
• $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;
• swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;
• 17 major insurance mandates; and
• the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.

"The central Obamacare mechanism for increasing insurance coverage is an expansion of the Medicaid program. Of the 30 million new people covered, 16 million will be enrolled in Medicaid. And you could end up in the program whether you want it or not.

"To pay for this expansion, the bill takes $529 billion from Medicare, with roughly 39 percent of the cut coming from the Medicare Advantage program. This represents a large transfer of resources, sacrificing the care of the elderly in order to increase the Medicaid rolls.

"For all this supposed reform, you, the American taxpayer, can expect a bill to the tune of $569 billion.

"Front and center among the new taxes is the 40 percent excise tax on those lucky people with so-called Cadillac health plans. The higher insurance costs that are driven by the government mandates will push many more ordinary plans into Cadillac territory.

"If the idea of taxing people with coverage deemed too good doesn’t bother you, maybe the new 3.8 percent tax on investment income will. That will apply even to a small number of home sales, those that generate $250,000 in profit for an individual or $500,000 for a married couple.

"In vivid color and detail, Congressman Brady’s chart captures the huge expansion of government coming under Obamacare. Harder to show on paper is the pain it will cause."

(For the complete Bloomberg commentary, see http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-02/obamacare-only-looks-worse-upon-further-review-kevin-hassett.html).