BY KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

In a special election held Wednesday in New Jersey, Booker received 55 percent of the vote while Lonegan received 44 percent.  This was an improved showing for Republicans in the solidly blue state, where President Barack Obama received 58 percent of the vote in 2012, and where the most recent Senate election saw the Democratic candidate get 58.4 percent of the vote to the Republican candidate’s 39.9 percent.

In the final days before the special election, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a registered Independent, flooded Booker’s campaign with $1 million in extra cash to help seal the Democratic contender’s victory.  Bloomberg is noted for his liberal social views, which align more closely with Booker’s platform than Lonegan’s.

Those social views took center stage during the run-up to the special election. In a political climate that has seen many campaigns minimize controversial social issues in favor of popular fiscal catchphrases like “job creation” and “tax reform,” Booker and Lonegan took the opposite approach, exchanging frequent verbal blows about social issues ranging from gay adoption to partial birth abortion.

Booker, 44, is the current mayor of Newark and a vehement supporter of both abortion-on-demandand homosexual causes. In developing his platform, he sought guidance and support from NARAL Pro-Choice America, who encouraged him to broaden his support for taxpayer funding of abortion. Booker also co-chaired the most recent Democratic National Convention, at which he successfully pushed to remove the word “rare” from the part of the party platform that used to say abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Liberal commentator Cokie Roberts later confronted Booker about theconvention, calling it “over the top” in its support for abortion-on-demand.

In a phone interview last Thursday with LifeSiteNews.com, Republican hopeful Steve Lonegan pulled no punches about his pro-life, pro-family stance.

“I’m about as pro-life as they come,” Lonegan told LifeSiteNews.com. “Life begins at conception, and I hold the sanctity of human life at the highest level of respect.”

During the campaign, Booker frequently criticized Lonegan for his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape and incest. Lonegan , however, was unapologetic.

“I think it’s hypocritical and illogical to state that you believe life begins at conception, that a life is sacred, unless that life was created under bad circumstances,” Lonegan told LifeSiteNews. “Rape is a terrible thing. But you don’t punish an innocent baby for that.”

According to Monmouth University political scientist Patrick Murray, the relative closeness of the race should be a warning sign to Booker, who turned voters off not only with his extreme views on abortion, but with questions about his integrity in the face of scandals, including a $700,000 severance payment from his former law firm that many viewed as a kickback in exchange for a $2 million government contract, and shady dealings with tech startup Waywire.  

Murray told USA Today, “Even if they don't show up in as great a number as Republicans, you're still looking at a significant advantage for any Democrat running statewide.  And so Booker needs to take a lesson from this.”

While Murray said that “a double-digit win is still a double-digit win,” he warned Booker that his victory was “nowhere near the kind of win that the underlying dynamics suggested should happen.”

Added Murray, “[Booker] has to work harder to prove to New Jerseyans that he is in it to serve them.”

New Jerseyans will not have to wait long to weigh in on Booker’s worthiness.  His election to the Senate is valid only through early 2015, when Lautenberg’s terms would have expired.  He will face re-election in November 2014.

Correction: We originally identified Michael Bloomberg as a Republican, but he left the party in 2007 and is currently registered as in Independent. We regret the error.

BY BEN JOHNSON

BY OPERATION RESCUE STAFF

On November 19, the citizens of Albuquerque will cast their votes on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which is supported by 54% of the people, according to a recent ABQ Journal poll. A grassroots coalition gathered 27,000 signatures in just 20 days to place this ordinance on the ballot.

“While putting forth this ordinance has been a local grass-roots effort, this election has important national implications. We believe that the good people of Albuquerque will rise to the occasion and do the right thing to protect these babies who are just a few short weeks or, in some cases, days from birth,” stated Tara Shaver, Chairperson of ABQ Voters For Late-Term Abortion Ban.

New Mexico is one of only nine states that allow post-viability abortions. It lacks abortion laws that provide even basic safety standards or informed consent, making its abortion policies more akin to those found in Communist China and Korea than in the rest of America. The largest late-term abortion clinic in the U.S. – one of only four in the nation – operates in Albuquerque.

The campaign will attract the national spotlight to Albuquerque and will focus on raising awareness through an intensive “Get Out the Vote” effort primarily aimed at people of faith. It will help voters navigate the mechanics of casting their “for” votes in support of the proposed ordinance.

Each week, women come to Albuquerque from all over the world to have abortions in their fifth month of pregnancy and beyond. Shelley Sella has done abortions as late as the 35th week of pregnancy in Albuquerque. She understands that the grisly process on nearly full-term babies has little public support, stating that the delivery of a dead baby that was killed with a lethal injection to the heart “sounds barbaric.”

“Albuquerque has the opportunity to be the first city in the nation to ban late-term abortions. Because the grisly procedures are done on women from every state, we are calling on all national pro-life groups to help us make this happen,” said Shaver.

While the Albuquerque effort is a local one, it has the support of several national pro-life organizations, including Operation Rescue.

ABQ Voters For Late-Term Abortion Ban is now accepting contributions to its Political Action Committee to fund the campaign. Donations can be made by visiting LateTermAbortionBan.com.

BY JOHN JALSEVAC

BY BEN JOHNSON

Tue Oct 01, 2013 18:18 EST

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 1, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – If you watched the news today, you might believe it was the only part of the government that was functioning. While the media presented images of the federal government closing monuments that do not close, they stated that the new law allowing citizens to sign up for ObamaCare was open for business.

President Obama held a press conference on the eve of the partial government shutdown to tell the Republican-controlled House, “The Affordable Care Act is moving forward.”

“That funding is already in place. You can’t shut it down,” Obama taunted yesterday afternoon.

By 8 a.m. Eastern time, the website HealthCare.gov and associated toll-free phone numbers went live to enroll citizens in local health care exchanges.

The new health care law could finance as much as 10 percent of all abortions nationwide each year. The Charlotte Lozier Institute found that the total number of taxpayer-funded abortions could increase by 18,397 in one year. But the number could range from 71,000 to 111,500.

There are indications this was part of the law's design. Roll Call newspaper reported than an anonymous source within the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told it “the multistate plans will help [the Obama administration] ‘ensure that in each exchange, there is at least one plan available that covers abortions beyond those allowed by the Hyde Amendment and at least one plan that does not cover abortions beyond those permitted by the Hyde Amendment.”

Aside from direct funding for abortion, Planned Parenthood will benefit from providing contraceptives and vouchers for health care performed by others.

Planned Parenthood affiliates in Iowa, Montana, and New Hampshire also received $655,000 in taxpayer funds to hire and train “navigators.” These Planned Parenthood employees would haveaccess to a vast federal database of sensitive information, including the Social Security number, tax form, bank account, and medical records of every single U.S. citizen.

Navigators are supposed to use this information to help citizens sign up for the best insurance plan based on their circumstances. However, it opens the door to identity theft, fraud, and invasion of privacy.

The navigators' training manual, Health Insurance Marketplace Navigator Standard Operating Procedures Manual, instructs navigators, "Do not leave documents that contain PII [Personally Identifiable Information] or tax return information on printers and fax machines" and to “double-check that the recipient’s fax number is correct, and that someone is able to pick up the faxed information immediately.”

Many of the players involved also raise eyebrows. The British company that received a $1.25 billion federal contract from HHS to process applications in the 36 federally operated state exchanges, Serco, is under investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office for allegedly charging the government for services it had not rendered.

Planned Parenthood itself recently agreed to a $4.3 million Medicaid fraud settlement with the state of Texas and is under national investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Nonetheless, Iowa had no navigators as of Friday – an indication the law is, in the words of Congressional critics, “not ready for primetime.”

The law's stated purpose is to reduce the number of uninsured Americans. But despite the federal expansion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 33 million Americans will still be uninsured 10 years from now, when the price of the law will reach $1.8 trillion, or double the $900 billion originally promised. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that only 13 percent of uninsured Americans even knew enrollment began today.

A Gallup poll found one-quarter of uninsured people plan on paying the fine for violating the individual mandate instead.

Two-thirds of respondents say they will buy insurance, but only 48 percent say they will use the ACA's state exchanges to do so. More than one-third (36 percent) say they certainly will not.

Under the law's terms, anyone 27 years of age or older must sign up for health insurance by March 31, 2014, or pay a fine of $95 or one percent of income, whichever is higher. Penalties increase in the coming years. Penalties rise to $695 or 2.5 percent of income by 2016.

The Obama administration is appealing to its core constituencies to enroll, swelling the rolls of the newly insured.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the National Council of La Raza are marketing ObamaCare to Hispanics.

Meanwhile, lesbian activist Maria De La O wrote in The Washington Post today, “ObamaCare is good for the LGBT community, whether like me, you currently enjoy employer-sponsored health care via a partner’s job, or whether like one in three of us, you currently don’t have health insurance at all.”

This morning's rollout proved less than triumphant, as Americans found the HealthCare.gov's servers swamped. Once they got in, the website proved bug-ridden and unhelpful. President Obama predicted “glitches and bumps,” joining HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in likening the unveiling to Apple computer's occasionally fixing bugs in its software.

But “every glitch is a human being" who could become frustrated, said a former Bush-41 administration Medicare director.

Already, the law is less popular by the day, the opposite of what Congressional Democrats predicted when they passed the law in 2009. A growing number of companies are cutting back workers' hours to avoid ObamaCare costs.

And as premiums rise, a larger percentage of low-income Americans may be priced out of the market altogether.

House members, many of them elected during the historic blowout 2010 midterm elections, attempted to defund ObamaCare or postpone its implementation for one year during the government shutdown battle – something President Obama's spokesman Jay Carney likened to extortion

“The president seems to say that any effort to continue the health care debate is an effort to undo his reelection,” said former Virginia Governor John Gilmore, who is now president of the Free Congress Foundation. “Remember, the House of Representatives got elected, too.”

“Why is the House disqualified from participation?” he asked. “Does the president's view challenge our Constitutional system?” 

BY BEN JOHNSON

Mon Sep 30, 2013 17:54 EST

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As President Obama and Senate Democrats stand their ground, House Republicans have dropped provisions barring the funding of abortion and delaying the HHS mandate for one year.

Early Sunday morning, the House approved the two measures as part of a bill to keep most federal programs funded and avoid a government shutdown. The bill included zero funding for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), conventionally known as ObamaCare.

As promised, Senate Democrats stripped the provisions out of the continuing resolution on a party line, 54-46 vote.

Regrouping, the House GOP abandoned the pro-life and religious liberty provisions from the bill.

Their new proposal instead delays ObamaCare's individual mandate for one year and eliminates subsidies for Congressional staffers' health insurance.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said he was “disappointed,” because the new bill “ignores the threat to religious freedom that ObamaCare poses and does nothing to address the abortion subsidies that will take effect.”

David Christensen, FRC's director of Congressional affairs, agreed this afternoon that the Republican proposal “doesn't fix the problem of abortion subsidies [and] doesn't fix the problem of” personal conscience violations.

Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act's HHS mandate, employers must provide all employees with insurance plans that include abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception with no co-pay, or pay a fine of $100 per employee per day.

The House had not voted on the new bill as of press time. However, the Senate is certain to reject it, as its Democratic leadership has said it will not negotiate with the House.

The rhetoric surrounding this issue has become so polarized that Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who aligns with the Democrats, has said opponents of ObamaCare are “guilty of murder.”

On Monday afternoon President Obama remained defiant, telling National Public Radio, “I shouldn’t have to offer anything” to House Republicans in exchange for the support of his signature health care bill.

Instead, Obama said a partial government shutdown is “entirely preventable if the House chooses to do what the Senate has already done, and that's the simple act of funding our government without making extraneous and controversial demands in the process.”

However, it is ObamaCare that is controversial and increasingly unpopular, with less than 40 percent of Americans approving of the measure.

The Republicans who control the House of Representatives hoped to tie a delay in its implementation to a must-pass bill to keep the government operating at its current levels.

The government runs out of money, and ObamaCare is set to go into effect for individuals, at midnight.

Congressman Darrell Issa, R-CA, suggested the House up the ante by forcing members of the Obama administration to sign up for the same benefits the are foisting on the American people. The Affordable Care Act exempts them from enrolling in what is acknowledged as inferior health care.

Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, said that is the only provision that could assure the successful delay of the Obama health care bill. Without such a threat, he believes their actions are doomed to failure.

“It’s great that House Republicans are sending the Senate a bill delaying ObamaCare for a year,” hewrote. “Why don’t they want it to pass?” 

BY BEN JOHNSON

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 25, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour epic floor speech to defund ObamaCare may have won him no friends in the media or GOP leadership, but pro-life and conservative leaders are enthusiastic about his efforts.

“Thank you Senator Cruz for giving a voice to all of us!” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, this morning.

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, simply said, “Ted Cruz is the man!”

Other conservatives praised Cruz's actions, contrasting his passion with that of the president.

“Ted Cruz stayed up all night to fight ObamaCare,” Congressman Steve Stockman, R-TX, quipped on Wednesday morning. “Obama went to bed while Ambassador Stevens [of Libya] was being murdered.”

Others on the other side of the aisle were less receptive.

California Democratic Congressman Mark Takano, a supporter of abortion-on-demand, tweeted a photo parodying Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's video awards' acceptance speech: “Ted Cruz, Ima let you finish but Wendy Davis had the greatest filibuster of all time!”

A veritable host of news outlets and pro-life leaders pointed out how the media's coverage of Cruz's speech conflicted with its prior reports of Wendy Davis' 11-hour filibuster in the Texas Senate, in which they lionized the pro-abortion Democrat for temporarily stalling the passage of a 20-week abortion ban and tighter health standards for abortion facilities.

The New York Times described Davis' speech as “The Great Abortion Filibuster,” while yesterday's editorial headline derided “The Embarrassment of Senator Ted Cruz.”

The Huffington Post called Davis' actions “The Filibuster Heard 'Round the World,” while saying,“Cruz Hijacks Senate.”

Talking Points Memo writer Josh Marshall called Cruz an “arrogant jerk.”

Even Politico acknowledged a double-standard.

At the time of Davis' filibuster, Cruz told the media that most Texans still oppose abortion. Wendy Davis declined to comment on Cruz's speech.

Davis is mulling over whether to run for governor of Texas, a decision she will make by October 3.

Cruz clearly has an eye on his own political aspirations. Polls showed the freshman senator a leading contender for the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination before the speech, but the speech has boosted Cruz's stock in the eyes of crucial primary voters.

A conservative super PAC, Virginia Principles Fund, will go on the air Monday with a $300,000 TV buy to attack Terry McAuliffe’s support for abortion rights and to criticize his business record.

Sarah Huckabee, who runs the organization, said the group’s research shows the Democrat’s position on abortion is “one of his greatest vulnerabilities in this race.” McAuliffe is running for governor of Virginia against Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

The anti-abortion ad, shared early with POLITICO, will run in the Norfolk and Roanoke media markets with roughly 1,000 gross rating points in each.

“The gift of life: innocent, beautiful, a miracle from God and our responsibility to protect,” a female narrator says softly as a young girl lays her head on a pregnant mother’s tummy and another mother softly kisses a newborn’s forehead. ”Terry McAuliffe supports abortion on demand at any time for any reason — paid for by Virginia taxpayers!”

A second spot hitting McAuliffe’s ties to bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing will run in the Richmond market.

“Virginians are hurting: not enough good-paying jobs, working two or more jobs to pay the bill,” the narrator says in that ad. “Terry McAuliffe talks about what he’ll do to help, but what has he done? Terry McAuliffe got rich off a company that went bankrupt and laid off 10,000 workers. Ten thousand workers lost their jobs, their health care, their livelihood while McAuliffe made millions.”

The tagline of both spots is, “Terry McAuliffe: Not our values, wrong for Virginia.”

The McAuliffe campaign has focused much of its advertising — especially in Northern Virginia — on Cuccinelli’s views on social issues, and abortion-rights groups are also plotting heavy flights of ads ahead of November’s election.

“Considering that Ken Cuccinelli wants to make abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest, has tried to outlaw common forms of birth control like the pill and even said his ultimate goal is to make abortion disappear in America, it’s no surprise that his extreme friends would try to come in and rescue him by launching false and misleading attacks,” said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin.