THE HOUSE

South Carolina: We lost a key GOP primary election in South Carolina recently. Voters in the GOP primary chose Mark Sanford, a confessed adulterer, over a strong social conservative in the 1^st Congressional District. GING-PAC had supported two social conservatives in that race, but South Carolinian Republicans apparently figured a man who was unfaithful to his wife would be a good choice to run against liberal Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the special election in June. The South Carolina GOP has just handed over the 1^st Congressional District to a leftist. It had been firmly in the hands of conservatives for years.

Missouri:  On June 4^th voters in the 8^th Congressional District will choose between Republican Jason Smith, who is a member of the Missouri House, and the Democrat challenger. Smith is running as a pro-lifer and social conservative to replace Jo Ann Emerson who resigned on January 22, 2013 to head the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Jason Smith stated, “I am 100% pro-life. I believe that every life is precious and it deserves protection …. I am not going to ‘go along’ and vote with others when they abandon the traditional Judeo-Christian values imparted to us by a belief in God.”

On the Hill: GING-PAC supported and endorsed Congressman Randy Forbes, who leads the Prayer Caucus, and who strongly questioned Chuck Hagel, the new Secretary of Defense, on anti-Christian bigotry in the military.

The Daily Caller reported the intense questioning of Hagel by Forbes:

Congressman Forbes

Forbes asked Hagel about an order issued that commanders can no longer inform their command of approved programs in the chaplain’s office. Forbes also made reference to a report that an Air Force patch logo was removed because it referenced “God,” and another that the Department of the Navy was prohibiting Bibles from being used in Walter Reed hospital.

Forbes also inquired about a training program where evangelical Christians, Catholics and Mormons were listed in the same category of religious extremism as al-Qaida.

Forbes also asked why service members were allowed to march in uniform in a San Diego gay pride parade, a political event.In response to the questions, Hagel — who took over the department in February — said he was unable to answer those questions immediately. “I don’t know about all the specifics of the information you presented,” Hagel told Forbes. “I will get it. And I will find out about it.”                  

Forbes went on to ask Hagel if he supported section 533 of last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, which included a conscience protection clause that Forbes says protects religious freedom in the military.

“I haven’t seen it,” Hagel said, though adding: “Protection of religious rights is pretty fundamental to this country.”

Forbes ended his questioning by saying, “I just can’t understand why the department is issuing orders prohibiting people in the chain of command from talking about chaplain’s programs supporting faith, but they’re not prohibiting people in the chain of command from making anti-faith statements and doing anti-faith training?”

“Well, that should not be happening,” Hagel responded.

Why would the Secretary of Defense not know about these highly publicized cases of bigotry toward Christians in the military? Please send letters of support to Congressman Forbes for his continued efforts to stop the military from becoming anti-Christian.

THE SENATE

Massachusetts: Social conservative voters in Massachusetts will really have no choices in the special election to replace Senator John Kerry in the U.S. Senate. All of the “Republican” candidates are in favor of so-called “gay marriage” and one of them also wants to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez is one of the candidates who supports “gay” marriage.

Of course, the two Democrats running are also in lock-step with the “gay” agenda, and with the abortion industry as well. In short, all five candidates to replace Kerry are in bed with the “gay” political agenda. GING-PAC will support no one in this race.

THE REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT

I joined with other social conservative leaders in writing an open letter to Reince Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee, in which we commented on the apparent move by the party back to the days of Richard Nixon. Prior to Ronald Reagan, there were only two major issue groups in the Republican Party: the economic conservatives and the defense hawks. Campaigning on just those two major issues, the Republicans were unable to control either the House or the Senate for decades, and most governorships and State assemblies were Democrat.

Our letter expressed concern about the GOP’s report, “Growth and Opportunity Project,” that recommended marginalizing social conservative concerns in upcoming elections.

The letter to Priebus noted that “The Republican Party makes a huge historical mistake if it intends to dismantle this coalition by marginalizing social conservatives and avoiding the issues which attract and energize them by the millions. Unfortunately, the report dismisses the Reagan Coalition as a political relic of the past.”

I have enclosed a copy of the letter for you to share with local leaders of the Republican Party. Please also share it with anyone you know who is associated with the Tea Party.

THE DANGERS OF OBAMA

As mentioned above in Congressional hearings, Obama’s Department of Defense was recently caught warning soldiers about “religious extremism.” Evangelical Christians, Catholics, fundamentalist Mormons, and orthodox Jews were listed right along with Hamas and al-Qaeda!

How much attention would this outrage get without a GING-PAC supported social conservative congressman such as Randy Forbes, who is exposing this behavior at congressional hearings? The answer is virtually none, and that is why your support of GING-PAC is so important. We may have lost getting another godly man elected in South Carolina this month … but we must keep trying. We now have a special election in Missouri. We must help get more congressmen like Randy Forbes to Washington. Please help today!