2012 - Page 2 of 15 - Paul Stanley

Why ‘Powerful’ People Engage in Affairs and the Tools They Employ

Note: This post is longer than most but there is much to cover. Yesterday I received a call from a reporter in Nashville wanting my thoughts on why powerful people engage in inappropriate relationships. Having fallen into that trap myself when I was a State legislator, I had some experience with the issue. Over the past few years the list of inappropriate relationships that have been exposed nationally include former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former New York Gov. Elliott Spitzer, Sens. John Edwards, David Vitter, and John Ensign, Congressmen Anthony Weiner and David Wu, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now former CIA Director David Petraeus can be added to a list that doesn’t even include pastors or prominent businessmen. But first I believe you should eliminate the word “powerful” to arrive at the obvious answer for why affairs begin, which is original sin. Such relationships have existed since man’s fall and unfortunately our world keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again. As one of my editors at The Christian Post asked during a conference call on Tuesday when we were discussing the recent affair involving Petraeus, “When will people who hold prominent positions learn their affairs are [...]

By Paul Stanley|2012-11-14T10:15:44-06:00November 14th, 2012|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Why Romney is Likely to Win and With Evangelicals At His Side

I was preparing to write a post on this topic but in my daily reading on Friday I came across two articles by Jay Cost and David and Nancy French that say it all. The bottom line is that I believe not only will Mitt Romney win the presidency, but he will do it with the overwhelming support of evangelical voters. This first article is from Jay Cost of The Weekly Standard. Jay is an excellent writer and even mentions another favorite of mine, Sean Trende from Real Clear Politics. Cost believes that a Romney victory will come because of two reasons: 1) Romney leads among voters who trust him to get our economy back on track 2) Romney leads among independents The first reason is important because regardless of your personal political or religious convictions, the economy is still front and center for everyone. The second article is from my friends Nancy and David French who manage the Evangelicals for Mitt website. They paint a clear picture of why Romney could outperform President George W. Bush in support of evangelicals because of the damage President Obama has done to America's social fabric. Read it here.

By Paul Stanley|2012-11-02T21:13:13-05:00November 2nd, 2012|My Blog Post|3 Comments

Two Insightful Op-Ed’s from Charles Krauthammer & Penny Nance

Like most journalist, in addition to writing each day I spend an inordinate amount of time reading op-ed's and news articles. This morning I ran across two that sum up the election on different fronts. The first one is by noted Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer. He offers a concise look at what Obama wants to do in the areas of healthcare, education and energy in a second term. I wish every undecided voter would read it (assuming there are any undecided voters out there). You can read Krauthammer's article here. The second column is by Penny Nance who is the CEO of Concerned Women for America. Penny addresses the sensitive issue of rape and abortion. Two U.S. Senate candidates, Missouri's Todd Akin and Indiana's Richard Mourdock have found themselves in lukewarm water when they utter the words "rape" or "abortion" in front of a liberal press. And for the record, neither men are advocates of either. Here is Penny's article that was published Friday in The Christian Post.

By Paul Stanley|2012-11-02T11:23:51-05:00November 2nd, 2012|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Who Is Nate Silver and Why Should You Care About Him?

Nate Silver might not be a household name, but he is receiving much attention this election season given his astoundingly accurate prediction in the 2008 election. Silver, who began his career calculating political statistics blogging for the Daily Kos and now is blogging for The New York Times, accurately predicted the winner of 49 of the 50 states in 2008. So it's no wonder pundits are eager to see Silver's election forecast this year. His predictions for this election come with some surprises, including that the 2008 voter make-up – strongly non-white and young – will again come out to the polls in similar numbers, and that President Obama has a 77.4 percent chance of winning the election. Some data, however, have predicted that young, non-white voter turnout will drop this year and that President Obama is tied with Republican contender Mitt Romney. "Prediction is the name of Silver's game, the basis for his celebrity," wrote Dylan Byers in his Monday column in Politico. "So should Mitt Romney win on Nov. 6, it's difficult to see how people can continue to put faith in the predictions of someone who has never given that candidate anything higher than a 41 percent [...]

By Paul Stanley|2012-10-31T20:09:30-05:00October 31st, 2012|My Blog Post|Comments Off

Should Pastors, Religious Leaders Endorse Political Candidates and Is It Legal?

One of the more common strategies any candidate or campaign seeks to employ is to use the endorsement of high profile individuals who are willing to lend their name and personal support to a candidate with the intention of influencing others to do the same. But the issue gets a bit sticky when those endorsing are connected to a church or a major religious organization. But perhaps before answering whether they should, the first question to ask is can they legally endorse political candidates? Under the 501 (c) (3) section of the Internal Revenue Service Code, it states that churches may engage in some "legislative activity" and still qualify for favored tax status, as long as such activity is not more than an "insubstantial" part of its overall activity in terms of time and money (e.g., worship service, Sunday school programs, etc.). In other words, the amount of permissible legislative activity is somewhat vague. Legislative activity that amounts to 5 percent of all church activity is generally considered "safe." Legislative activity between 5 and 20 percent is less certain and, therefore, less safe. Activity over 20 percent has been found unacceptable by the Internal Revenue Service, although the rule has [...]

By Paul Stanley|2012-10-30T10:36:28-05:00October 30th, 2012|My Blog Post|Comments Off