Margaret Thatcher, the Methodist
Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism

Margaret Thatcher was forever the thrifty Methodist grocer’s daughter of Grantham.

The Sound of Tyranny for German Home School Family
Robert Knight, Townhall

Read more on PowerLinks – 04.10.13…

As keystroke was committed to screen in the writing of this post, J.C. Penney honcho Ron Johnson received his walking papers. This after it was announced last week that the ousted CEO had his pay cut 90 percent– tanking his 2012 salary to a mere $1.9 million from a sum north of $50 million in 2011.

With numbers like that, Johnson more than likely won’t apply for unemployment benefits anytime soon. But his compensation unfortunately will add more fuel to the fire of those proxy shareholders advocating for “say on pay” rules for upper management.

For example, The Nathan Cummings Foundation submitted a proxy shareholder resolution to Caterpillar Inc. that reads: “The shareholders … ask the board of directors to adopt a policy that incentive compensation for senior executives should include a range of non-financial measures based on sustainability principles and reducing any negative environmental impacts related to Company operations.”

According to its website, NCF “is rooted in the Jewish tradition and committed to democratic values and social justice, including fairness, diversity, and community. We seek to build a socially and economically just society that values nature and protects the ecological balance for future generations; promotes humane health care; and fosters arts and culture that enriches communities.” Read more on Executive Pay and Shareholder Resolutions…

Margaret Thatcher once told an interviewer, “Of course, I am obstinate in defending our liberties and our law. That is why I carry a big handbag.” During her time as Prime Minister, Thatcher’s handbag became an iconic symbol of her ability to handle opponents. The term “handbagging” even entered the Oxford English Dictionary (the verb “to handbag” is defined as: (of a woman politician), treat (a person, idea etc) ruthlessly or insensitively) to describe her rhetorical style.

Thatcher’s handbagging usually occurred during Question Time, the hour every day when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers—including the prime minister—which they are obliged to answer. A prime example is in her last appearance as Prime Minister in the House of Commons, on November 22, 1990. Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes taunts her on the subject of income inequality.
Read more on What Margaret Thatcher Understood About Income Inequality…

In a recent post on leadership and stewardship, Albert Mohler argues that although “Christians are rightly and necessarily concerned about leadership,” we often exhibit a tendency to “aim no higher than secular standards and visions of leadership.”

Instead, Mohler argues, the Christian is called to “convictional leadership,” something defined by fundamental Biblical beliefs that are “transformed into corporate action,” rather than a general deference to the status quo of secularist thinking:

Out in the secular world, the horizon of leadership is often no more distant than the next quarterly report or board meeting. For the Christian leader, the horizon and frame of reference for leadership is infinitely greater. We know that our leadership is set within the context of eternity. What we do matters now, of course, but what we do matters for eternity, precisely because we serve an eternal God and we lead those human beings for whom he has an eternal purpose.

In the past, I’ve described this as a tension between “earthbound thinking” and a more transcendent economic order, one in which we are driven by active obedience to God, empowered and directed by the wisdom of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Even for Christians, it can be easy to acknowledge God’s overall message even while pursuing our own humanistic methods to pursue it — embracing his message of salvation, redemption, love, grace, and mercy, even as we look to our own earthbound plans and schemes for ways to “implement” God’s will. Read more on Albert Mohler on Leadership, Stewardship, and the Sovereignty of God…

Margaret Thatcher was a powerful voice for free enterprise and liberty
Arthur C. Brooks, AEI Ideas

Mrs. Thatcher was a political pugilist, but she fought for the ideas of freedom and human liberty.

Read more on PowerLinks – 04.09.13…

Christian’s Library Press has released Rooted & Grounded by Abraham Kuyper. This short volume includes first-ever translated sermons by Kuyper showing his passion to the church. While he’s well known for his writings on theology and common grace, this book demonstrates Kuyper’s enthusiasm for the church as well. In his seminal sermon, included in this volume, Kuyper outlines the basic distinction and connection between his conception of the church as institution and the church as organism, a view which became formative for neo-Calvinist reflection on the church and society.

In his endorsement for the book, Stephen Grabill, senior research scholar at Acton Institute says:
Read more on New Abraham Kuyper Volume: ‘Rooted and Grounded’…

The best show on TV over the past five years has, in my not-so-humble-opinion, been AMC’s Breaking Bad. This is one over-hyped show that lives up to all of it (and more). .

While the on-air sage of Walter White concludes this summer, Breaking Bad‘s pop-culture legacy may take a back-seat to it’s legislative and fiscal ones.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed into law Thursday the state’s “Breaking Bad” bill, which will increase subsidies on film and TV productions shot in the state now famous for the AMC drama.

The law increases New Mexico’s rebate for series television production to 30 percent of a producer’s total qualified spend in the state. Feature films will get 30 percent back on resident labor if using a qualified production facility. They will also get 25 percent back on all other expenses. In addition, a roll-over of $10 million in unused credits per fiscal year will be allowed.

The news comes after Martinez, a Republican who previously has tried to rein in production subsidies, vetoed the bill March 15. The state previously offered a 25 percent tax refund on qualifying productions, with a cap of $50 million per year. Martinez put the cap in place in 2011, with members of the film and TV industry blaming it for a drop in New Mexico productions.

As a recent transplant to Los Angeles with many friends currently working at various levels of the entertainment industry, I’ve seen and heard about the effects of studios taking their film and television projects to other states (and countries) first-hand. Read more on New Mexico Wisely Breaks With Bad California Tax Policies…

1. “Pennies don’t fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth.” (Speech at Lord Mayor’s Banquet, 11/12/79)

2. “If a Tory does not believe that private property is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom, then he had better become a socialist and have done with it.” (Article for Daily Telegraph, “My Kind of Tory Party,” 01/30/1975)

3. “I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society – from a give-it-to-me to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.” (Speech, 1984)

4. “My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.” (The News of the World, 9/20/81)

5. “The choice facing the nation is between two totally different ways of life. And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark, divisive clouds of Marxist socialism and bring together men and women from all walks of life who share a belief in freedom.” (Speech, 1983)
Read more on 10 Memorable Thatcher Quotes on Economics and Freedom…

photo courtesy of Atlantic Wire

In 1968, Margaret Thatcher, then a member of the Shadow Cabinet as a junior minister of Great Britain, gave a speech entitled, What’s Wrong With Politics? Despite that fact that the speech is now 45 years old, it is as relevant today as then – in some unfortunate ways. Here are some excerpts.

[T]he extensive and all-pervading development of the welfare state is also comparatively new, not only here but in other countries as well. You will recollect that one of the four great freedoms in President Roosevelt’s wartime declaration was ‘freedom from want.’ Since then in the Western world there has been a series of measures designed to give greater security. I think it would be true to say that there is no longer a struggle to achieve a basic security. Further, we have a complete new generation whose whole life has been lived against the background of the welfare state. These developments must have had a great effect on the outlook and approach of our people even if we cannot yet assess it properly.

Read more on What’s Wrong With Politics? – Lady Margaret Thatcher…

On October 5, 2011, Acton welcomed John Blundell, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, to deliver a lecture as part of the 2011 Acton Lecture Series. His address was entitled “Lessons from Margaret Thatcher,” and provided insight into the Iron Lady from a man who had known Thatcher well before she became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. You can watch his lecture below.

Read more on Video: John Blundell on Thatcher…