As The Examiner reported: “During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing today, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., grilled outgoing IRS commissioner Steven Miller about the IRS targeting a pro-life group in Iowa.

“Their question, specifically asked from the IRS to the Coalition for Life of Iowa: ‘Please detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers.’”

In a Des Moines Register blog post, the Coalition for Life of Iowa was also featured, and CFLI President Sue Martinek said, ““We were singled out,” she said of the IRS inquiry. “The only action they seemed concerned about was our protests at Planned Parenthood, and that shouldn’t concern the IRS.”

She’s right. In fact, the IRS went even further and insisted that all board members sign a sworn declaration promising not to picket/protest Planned Parenthood.

But like a bad late-night infomercial, “There’s more!”

KCCI-TV in Des Moines reported that the Tea Party of America, based in Iowa and founded by Ken Crow, were also targets of the extreme Left IRS tactics.

It’s getting so bad that Iowa Representative Chip Baltimore stated in a Des Moines Register blog post he wants to collect all cases that may still be out there, and promises to give support for anyone who suspects they may have been harassed by the IRS.

In an on-camera interview with Fox News, Senator Marco Rubio, (R-FL) accurately describes all that is going on with the IRS and points the responsibility to the Obama Administration, saying that Obama is creating a “culture of intimidation.”

And, as the Family Research Council said in their Thursday email entitled “A Torrent of Tyrants”:

While the President tries to contain the IRS scandal by firing the acting chief, new details are trickling out about the administration’s ideological harassment. According to the Washington Examiner, the corruption went straight to the top, as even the President’s pals seemed to have power over which groups were approved for tax-exempt status. In one instance, even Planned Parenthood seemed to hold sway in the application of Coalition for Life of Iowa. The IRS specifically withheld approval until the Coalition sent a letter “with the entire board’s signatures, stating that, under perjury of the law, they do not picket/protest outside of Planned Parenthood.” The IRS explained that only when they received that letter would their application be approved.

If that isn’t government tyranny, I don’t know what is. The administration was actually withholding the group’s nonprofit status until it surrendered its constitutional rights to peacefully assemble. It’s almost Orwellian, the extent to which the IRS was willing to go to control people’s thoughts and actions. And obviously, this goes well beyond the tea party to a direct assault on pro-family, pro-life conservatives. So it comes as cold comfort to our movement that the Justice Department–which has its own vendetta against pro-life groups–is heading up the IRS’s criminal investigation. Under President Obama, the DOJ has relentlessly targeted pro-lifers with frivolous lawsuits, which judges have consistently rebuked for their “chilling effect on free speech.” Forgive us for being skeptical that the DOJ could put its agenda aside long enough to prosecute this wrongdoing!

In the video below, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sums up the tactics and the goals of the left exceptionally well. We have all heard the horror stories of when the IRS showed up at someone’s door to close their business, seize their records, or usher them out of their homes. In recent days, it turns out there is good reason for fear of the IRS — especially if you’re a conservative who disagrees with the views of the Left and their agenda.

We’ve often stated that the Left preaches tolerance but is completely intolerant when another viewpoint is offered.  The disturbing revelations of the IRS targeting conservative groups similar in beliefs and philosophy to The FAMiLY LEADER sends a chilling message to all Americans. While it is true we don’t agree with many voices articulating an agenda completely opposed to our mission of, “Strengthening families…,” please know we recognize and validate the Left’s right and freedom to have a voice.

It has become apparent the IRS and the apparatus they are taking their lead from, disagree.  In their minds, demonstrated by their actions, only their voice gets to be heard.  Believe me, we will fight this…expose this…and do our best to defeat this!

“It’s always too soon to quit!”
— Norman Vincent Peale

The Iowa Legislature is in the closing days of the session, and it is too soon to quit in our efforts to stop the flow of tax dollars to abortionists.

House Republicans, under the leadership of Speaker Kraig Paulsen, have taken a firm stand in stopping the flow of tax dollars to abortionists.  Almost two weeks ago they included the following language in the House version (Amendment H-1378) of the Health and Human Services budget bill (SF446):

“…funds appropriated under this section shall not be distributed to any person, as defined in Section 4.1, who participates in the willful termination of human life.”

However, as past experience would suggest, Senate Democrats will probably oppose this provision.  Without the support of at least two Democrats in the Senate the measure will not pass.
We need your help:

Time is short and your help is critical in the closing hours of the 2013 Session.

Please call or email your Senator, especially if they are a member of the Democrat majority.

Find your Senator’s name and email address at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/find.aspx

Call your Senator by dialing the Senate switchboard at 515-281-3371 and asking for him or her by name. (If you get the answering machine after hours, it will prompt you on how to leave a message for your Senator).
Ask them to ‘vote to keep tax dollars from going to abortionists by supporting the House language’.

They are likely to vote on this legislation in the next few days.

Thank you for stepping up in the final days of the legislative session!
Chuck Hurley

Danny Carroll

Greg Baker

Tamara Scott

Sentencing will commence next week.

The implications of this verdict are tremendous.  First of all, this is the first time an abortionist has been convicted of murder.  This brings up the philosophical question of when does life begin, and when should the law provide protection for that life?  Since Roe v. Wade, it has been after the baby was born and completely out of the womb.  With this verdict, these questions are going to be challenged and need to answered with more clarity than they have historically.  This is a time when anyone who believes life begins at conception to be talking about this with your friends and coworkers.  Frankly, the law needs to be updated to match what science can now tell us about the development of a person in the womb.

Be in prayer that this trial and conviction will have a positive impact on the pro-life movement.

“…funds appropriated under this section shall not be distributed to any person, as defined in section 4.1, who participates in the willful termination of human life.”

The Iowa House of Representatives, on May 1, 2013, included those words in amendment H-1378 to Senate File 446 and returned the bill to the Democrat controlled Senate.  We again extend our compliments and gratitude to Representative Matt Windschitl and Floor Manager Dave Heaton for their clear pro-life leadership in drafting and passing this measure.

The bill (SF 446) is now in a conference committee comprised of 5 Senators and 5 Representatives.  We expect the conference committee to pursue a compromise sometime next week.

The question remains; will the Republican controlled House be able to keep this pro-life provision in the final conference committee report?  Senate File 446 is a huge Health and Human Services budget bill and only one of ten such bills yet to be passed before the Legislature adjourns.

We are encouraged that many Pro-life Republicans have made it clear that retaining this protection for unborn babies is essential if they are to vote for any compromise.

Let’s make sure we hold them up in prayer and offer them our words of encouragement in these final days of the session.

Education Delays Adjournment

Education reform, a priority of Governor Branstad’s, continues to delay legislative adjournment.  Most of the public discussion deals with teacher pay, evaluations and student testing.  Relief for home school families and private schools is still included in the legislation. Families that value home school and private school education need to be vigilant as a final compromise is considered.  At The FAMiLY Leader we believe that if massive spending increases for public schools is approved it is only fair that additional freedom from government be proved to parents that choose private instruction.

Encourage your legislator to support private and home school freedom in ANY final compromise on education reform.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/09/cruz-obama-could-learn-about-job-creation-from-texas/#ixzz2SpaIRv00

“It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”
― John Wooden

The FAMiLY LEADER was asked several times by the media why we were getting involved with a local issue like the vote on gambling in Warren County.  The answer is simple – because families are at stake.  No matter where or what it takes, we try and do what we can.  We were happy to do target phone calls, coordinate a townhall meeting, and use our communications to assist Erica Isley of NoCasinoWarrenCounty.com, Tom Coates of Consumer Credit of Des Moines, Tamara Scott of Concerned Women for America of Iowa, the local churches, and the countless Warren County citizens who worked tirelessly.  It is them, not us, that deserve the credit for this win.

We don’t know how many lives may have been saved, how many bankruptcies may have been avoided, how many families will stay intact because of how the vote went.  But we do know that the Warren County citizens did the bold thing, the hard thing, and loudly shouted, “NO! We value our families and communities more than we want the allurement of easy money.”

Bob recaps the vote and celebrates with Tamara Scott and Greg Baker how the election became such a huge success:

Watch this video on YouTube.

INDIANOLA, IA. — Warren County voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to allow casino gambling in the county.

The measure, which needed a simple majority of support to pass, garnered 60 percent negative votes and failed in all but one of the 13 precincts where it was considered.

Entire article at the Des Moines Register…

The agreement is enshrined in an agreed-upon court order issued Monday in a lawsuit Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed last month on behalf of a student. The college prohibited him from distributing fliers that protested the use of college funds for a conference on sexuality.

“Colleges should be the marketplace of ideas. The college has done the right thing in recognizing this by agreeing to end its problematic policy concerning the free speech of students,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Free speech should not be censored or limited to a tiny area on campus, and college students should not need permission to hand out fliers–a classic exercise in constitutionally protected free speech.”

In March, college officials barred Jacob Dagel, a Christian student at Des Moines Area Community College, from distributing fliers containing religious and political messages in the open-air quad on campus. The fliers protested the allocation of college funds to subsidize student tickets to the Iowa Governor’s Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth. A campus security officer informed Dagel that students must use the speech zone and obtain a permit 10 school days prior to the activity.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Dagel filed suit against the college on April 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The suit argued that the college’s speech policy unconstitutionally prohibited students from speaking spontaneously in reaction to news and current events on the public sidewalks and open spaces of the campus. In response to the suit, college officials agreed to a permanent injunction against the bad speech policies while a settlement of the case is finalized.

Timm W. Reid, one of more than 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, is serving as local counsel in the case, Dagel v. Des Moines Area Community College.

Source: Alliance Defending Freedom