Here are some links to just a few of the videos Liberty Legal Institute and clients did recently in the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial case:

• Lou Dobbs (CNN, Kelly debates Barry Lynn)
• Fox and Friends
• America’s Newsroom (Fox News)
• Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on PBS
• Washington Post about the case
• Washington Post bio on Henry and Wanda Sandoz
• CBN
• C-SPAN (Liberty Legal and clients begin at 4:10)
• CNN bio on Henry and Wanda Sandoz
• CNN on oral arguments
• CNN about the case
• NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (Wednesday, features VFW client Joe Davis)
• NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (Sunday)
• ABC World News with Charles Gibson

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the high profile Mojave Desert War Memorial case.  It’s the most important case of the term; so far, Fox News has run stories on this issue with us and our clients (click here for America’s Newsroom from Sept. 17, check back soon for more information on the Fox and Friends interview from Thursday).

Here are other shows to watch soon:

• NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (Airs Sunday with follow up later.)
• PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (Here’s a link to the segment.  Airing likely on Sunday, varies by region. Click for your PBS station.)
• CNN American Morning (Monday between 5 a.m.-8 a.m. CST), Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (Monday between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
• ABC World News with Charles Gibson (more details coming soon)

The NBC National News interview we thought would air last night will now air on Sunday as a preview and then again next week before the argument.

In addition to these on-camera interviews, the Washington Post released articles on Monday profiling the case and our clients Henry and Wanda Sandoz, who have been taking care of the memorial for the last 25 years!  Be sure to leave comments on these articles!

Next week, we will keep you up-to-date minute by minute via Twitter and Facebook pages.  Should we lose this case, ALL veterans memorials across our country that contain religious imagery will be at risk of being torn down.

www.donttearmedown.com

On Monday, six American soldiers, recently home from Iraq, kicked off a cross-country tour to bring awareness to the plight of the Mojave Desert War Memorial.  They stopped in Texas on their way to visit the memorial to speak with War Hero and US Congressman Sam Johnson and to collect signatures for the petition at www.DontTearMeDown.com.  The soldiers will arrive at the Memorial tomorrow and will lay a wreath and read the names of fallen comrades.  Hundreds of veterans from around the region will be there to greet them, and CNN and ABC Nightly News will be there to cover the event. If you haven’t signed the petition of support for the memorial, we urge you to do so now.  Go to www.DontTearMeDown.com!

The six soldiers on their way to the Memorial.

Congressman Sam Johnson with Kelly Shackelford

Kelly presents Congressman Johnson with a “Don’t Tear Me Down” shirt.

PLANO, Texas – Free Market Foundation released a study today in conjunction with the Family Research Council and the American Family Business Foundation which evaluates the significant, negative impacts of the federal estate tax (the “death tax”) on the national and state economies, including Texas. The report, “Repealing Death Tax Will Create Jobs and Boost Economy,” explains how the best option in view of the economy is a repeal of the death tax.

“Allowing the death tax to come back and taking one-half of a person’s assets at death is not only morally wrong, it would destroy over 30,000 Texas jobs,” said Kelly Shackelford, President/CEO of Free Market Foundation.

This paper, which combines two recent analyses of the death tax by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Stephen Entin, president and executive director of the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET), considers the various options available to Congress, including reversion to the 2001 tax rate and exemption, reduction, and elimination, and the economic ramifications of each option.

Though Congress set an annual reduction and increased exemption schedule for the death tax in 2002, Congress will revisit the death tax soon, as it is slated for elimination in 2010 before reverting to the high marginal tax rate and low exemption of the 1990s in 2011. According to Holtz-Eakin, such a reversion would eliminate 33,830 jobs in Texas alone. By contrast, eliminating the estate tax would create 101,489 jobs in Texas.

As the paper reveals, the best outcome is elimination of the death tax; a full repeal increases jobs and expands the economy, as well as provides the largest increase in government revenue.

Click here to read the full study.

Click to listen to Kelly’s speech at The American Legion National Convention. Kelly at American Legion Conference

Recently, the City of North Richland Hills (near Fort Worth) received a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), an organization whose goal is to remove religious expression from the public square. The City’s Council meetings begin with prayer, which does not usually refer to God or Jesus specifically, but is often closed by the phrase “In His Name” or “In Your Name.” Following a complaint from one citizen, FFRF has taken it upon itself to punish a city for engaging in voluntary, constitutionally-permitted prayer before important meetings. We are in communication with the city. This is just one more example of the extreme left’s attempt to stifle religious free speech.

Sound off! Should city hall meetings include prayer?

This year’s big Values Voter Summit added yet another well-known speaker: our own Kelly Shackelford, president of Free Market Foundation!  At the Summit, Kelly will get the chance to talk about our work to save the Mojave Desert War Memorial (www.DontTearMeDown.com) to the thousands of people in attendance.  If you haven’t signed up to attend, visit www.ValuesVoterSummit.org!

We’ve had an amazing outpouring of support from patriotic Americans like you who are willing to stand up to left-wing organizations and say…

 “You can’t tear down my memorials, and you can’t tear down my freedom!”

So far, over 32,000 friends have joined us in the fight to save The Mojave Desert Memorial Cross by signing our online petition of support. By signing the petition, you can thank America’s Veterans for their service and let them know that you will fight to protect our nation’s war memorials. If you haven’t yet signed the petition, please take a few minutes right now and show your support for our brave American soldiers.

If you have already signed the petition, please encourage 5 of your friends or family to join you in taking a stand against those who wish to suffocate our freedom and desecrate our nation’s memorials.

If all of our 32,000 friends who have signed the petition so far recruited just 5 more people, we would have over 160,000 voices of support!

We must spread the word about the travesty that the ACLU is trying to perpetrate upon American values. Please don’t let the liberal left silence the voices of freedom. Stand up and be counted by sharing this critical issue with your friends and family now. Together, we will let those who wish to suffocate our freedom know, “I won’t be torn down!”

Last week, we told you about the attempt to pass the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) by Sen. Barney Frank (D-MA).  ENDA is a direct threat to religious freedom and traditional marriage nationwide.  ENDA prohibits both public and private employers from making employment decisions (hiring, firing, advancement, etc.) based on an employee’s actual or perceived sexual behavior, ambiguously defined as “sexual orientation.”  This completely redefines the concept of protected classes in American law, granting sexual orientation the same employment protections as race, placing sexual behavior on the same level as the immutable traits of sex and ancestry. In fact, many homosexual activist leaders have argued this law, putting race and sexual orientation on the same level, is a key step in overturning marriage laws nationwide. Some versions of ENDA even include special employment protections for transvestites and individuals who undergo sex-change operations.  While churches and church-sponsored schools appear to be exempted for now, religious businesses and religious employers with at least 15 employees are not. Religious conscience is not recognized. ENDA actually passed the U.S. House of Representatives last time, but did not make it through the Senate because of a threatened veto by President Bush.  

Click here to read more about ENDA.  Click here to see how your Representative voted on ENDA last session! Be educated and pass this along to others as we prepare to battle against passing this bad law.

A new product hit the market recently: “Boy or Girl Gender Prediction Test” by IntelliGender, which claims to identify a baby’s gender at ten weeks.  According to IntelliGender, the product is successful 78-80 percent of the time, and should be used by parents to shorten the “excruciating” wait for the 20-week sonogram.  However, Jennifer Parks, co-director of Loyola University Chicago’s Programs in Health Care Ethics, noted this about the Prediction Test: “Say a woman has three daughters and wants to get pregnant one last time to have a baby boy. If she takes the test at 10 weeks, and it’s not the sex she wants, she may want to terminate and try again.”  While the manufacturers of the product disavow such thinking, it may clearly be used in that manner.

What do you think?  Does this raise the risk of gender selection among parents or is it like any another medical advance?