Lady Gaga, Sting and Britney Spears are putting on a quite a performance — but it has nothing to do with their music. The trio, along with more than 100 other actors and musicians, are playing a convincing role in the Left’s misinformation campaign over the Texas Privacy Act. Following the script from North Carolina, a group of Hollywood’s biggest stars is hoping to sway the debate by weighing in with convenient — but false — soundbites about what the bill would and wouldn’t do. Calling it “mean-spirited,” the celebrities write that they’ll do “everything within our power to make sure all of our fans, crews and fellow artists feel safe and welcome, wherever we go.”

But if that were the case, they’d be supporting S.B. 6, not fighting it! The whole point of Texas’s bill is to ensure that women and children have the privacy and security they deserve. In government buildings and schools, the measure would keep the common-sense status quo, which is that people use the restrooms, showers and locker rooms that match the gender on their birth certificate. Despite what these celebrities would have you believe, Texas’s legislation not only allows but encourages businesses to set their own bathroom policies. In fact, the bill would bar state and local officials from dictating to companies what those policies are. If that isn’t tolerance, what is?

Lt. Governors Dan Patrick (R-TX) and Dan Forest (R-NC) wondered the same thing during our special program on the wave of gender identity bills threatening religious liberty and Americans’ safety. Yesterday at FRC, the dynamic duo — both veterans of this fight in their respective states — joined us to set the record straight and explain what Americans can do to push back. While there are some differences in the two states, the common theme is this: Neither one brought this debate on themselves. They were both reacting to liberal city councils or the Obama administration’s mandate forcing this gender free-for-all on every public school in America.

Honestly, as Lt. Governor Patrick said, we shouldn’t even have to discuss this! And Americans agree. If you poll the issue in Texas, an overwhelming number of Republicans (80 percent) support the privacy bill. And while that may not surprise you, I bet hearing that 50 percent of Democrats side with them does! Let’s not forget: Houston, the largest city to vote on the issue, is three-quarters Democratic but voted 61-39 percent to put safety and privacy first.

But what about the economics? A popular response to these privacy acts is the faulty notion that enacting laws like H.B. 2 or S.B. 6 will cost the states billions of dollars. As PolitiFact and others have pointed out, that’s simply not true. In fact, Lt. Governor Forest added, Forbes just named North Carolina the #2 place to do business in the country. As for the NCAA, NFL and other sports associations that have threatened — or carried out their threats — to move championships to other states, even the financial fallout (while unfortunate) has been negligible. When North Carolina lost the ACC and NCAA games, the total impact, Forest explained, was “less than one-quarter of one percent of the state’s GDP.” And even if it were more, he added, “We don’t put a price tag on the safety and security of women and children in North Carolina.” His advice to other states? “Don’t be bullied. When these fights come to you, you need to stand up and fight.”

Lt. Governor Patrick has certainly heeded those words, helping to lead the charge in Texas against the greatest enemy — misinformation — for the Privacy Act now before the state legislature. The hypocrisy of these corporate heavyweights, as he makes mention, is astounding. “Why doesn’t the NFL make an announcement today that next season in all of their stadiums … they’re going to allow men into the ladies room … at any time on the concourse? They’re not going to do it. Again, the businesses that are opposing us on this would never initiate this policy.” And it isn’t because people on either side are concerned about those who identify as transgender. They’re concerned about, as Patrick explains, “all of the sexual predators who will exploit these rules to go into the ladies room. Some people don’t understand this issue. They think only a man wearing a dress can enter the ladies room. No, if these ordinances are allowed to stand … any man can go into a ladies or girls’ [restroom, shower or locker room] and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

For now, though, there is something YOU can do about it. I strongly encourage you to watch this program in its entirety and share it with other parents, your congregation and school board members. Then, make sure you download a great resource FRC offers on the subject: A Parent’s Guide to the Transgender Movement in Education.

Originally published here.

A Humana Interest Story

It was a Valentine’s Day announcement that most experts saw coming: Humana, one of the country’s largest health insurers, is breaking up with Obamacare. After taking a financial beating from an exchange that’s more volatile than ever, Humana said it will head for the exit on the law in 2018. Already, the company had scaled back its involvement — until this year, it only covered about 150,000 people of the 10 million enrollees. Like UnitedHealth and others before it, Humana can’t keep absorbing the losses of an imbalanced pool of policyholders.

Executives have hung in there for as long as possible, pointing out that they’d hoped the exchange would turn around. “All of these actions were taken with the expectation that the company’s Individual Commercial business would stabilize to the point where the company could continue to participate in the program.” Unfortunately for a lot of insurers, that never happened. There just aren’t enough healthy people buying plans to offset the sick, which means the company is swimming in red. “Based on its initial analysis of data associated with the company’s health care exchange membership following the 2017 open enrollment period, Humana is seeing further signs of an unbalanced risk pool.”

For Congress, Humana’s exodus should be even more motivation to get its act together on the reconciliation plan. But tragically, after a six-year war to topple the president’s failure, Republicans are no closer to repealing the bill than they were when President Trump’s moving vans arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. For the latest several weeks, Republican leaders have desperately been trying to get on the same page with an alternative to the “Affordable” Care Act. And while the plan for replacing Obamacare is important, you can’t replace a law you haven’t repealed. House leaders need to take the first step, which is to wipe the slate clean and seed the ground for a patient-centered, cost-effective substitute. The Senate already opened the door to repeating what Congress did last year: ending the government’s direct deposit to Obamacare and Planned Parenthood. There’s absolutely no reason for House Republicans to drag the feet on the first part of the mission.

Several conservative members agree, signaling that it’s past time to do what the party promised. “The commitment for Republicans in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 has been repeal and replace, not repeal and renege, and repeal means that it’s a repeal,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) told reporters Tuesday. “There are no Affordable Care Act plans. There’s no ‘if you like your Obamacare you can keep your Obamacare’ in the Republican commitment.” Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) was equally frustrated. “Members of Congress are scared all the time,” he argued. “They need to actually just lean in, move forward and do what they told the American people they were going to do.” There is absolutely no excuse for not supporting a budget resolution that’s identical to the one passed by Congress at the end of 2015. The whole purpose of that exercise was to prove it could be done. What’s changed since then other than a president who will sign it?

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), chair of the influential House Freedom Caucus, wonders the same thing. “To suggest that we can pass it in 2015 and that it’s more difficult to do it in 2017 makes for a very difficult argument for anyone on why they’ve changed their position and were willing to vote for it then and aren’t willing to vote for it now.” Of course, another problem is that the White House isn’t giving clear direction. “We’re working on Obamacare,” Trump has said. “It will be very soon.” What “it” is hasn’t been clear to GOP leaders, who are somewhat in limbo until the president decides which plan they ought to pursue.

For Republicans, this is the ultimate test of leadership. If they fail to repeal Obamacare when they have every puzzle piece in place, voters will never trust them to deliver on anything important again. Your members need to hear from you! Urge them to put their feet on the trail they blazed in 2015 and once again pass the budget reconciliation bill. Tell them to stop wasting time in repealing the bulk of Obamacare and Planned Parenthood funding. The longer Congress waits, the more vulnerable the Republican majority is.

Originally published here.

In This Day and SAGE

If you want to change America, don’t look toward Washington — look in the mirror! That’s where the real hope lies, according to a new survey by the American Culture and Faith Institute (ACFI). Social conservatives, or SAGE Cons (Spiritually Active, Governance Engaged Christian conservatives) as they call them, are more motivated than ever to start impacting the country. Based on ACFI’s latest polling, a whopping 95 percent of them aren’t satisfied with the current state of American culture — calling it “selfish” (94 percent), “self-indulgent” (96 percent) and “intolerant” (84 percent). So, the organization asked, what will you do about it? Two out of three SAGE Cons (67 percent) said they were either “extremely” or “very” interested in being “personally involved ‘in activities designed to produce positive cultural transformation in the U.S. in the near future.’” In other words, these evangelicals — who were partially responsible for Donald Trump’s election — aren’t ready to prop their feet up and wait for cultural change. They want to be involved in that change. George Barna, who directed the study, strongly believes that it’s time for the church to harness that enthusiasm and keep the momentum going.

Churches, families, parachurch organizations, conservative media, faith-friendly schools — all of these entities and more have a moment of opportunity to redirect the nation and to shape the future in different ways than have been the norm throughout the last decade. But without effective and timely leadership, little progress will be made… The danger is that many Christian leaders appear to be waiting for the Trump administration to work some magic to turn around the culture… With an energized and hopeful constituency such as SAFE Cons looking for positive transformation, the opportunity is ripe for visionary, faith-driven leaders to mobilize the group and take strategic action while the people are willing. If it takes too long to mobilize and activate these people, the momentum and hope will be lost, and nothing will change. Timing is critical.

He’s right. Even in the days of Ronald Reagan, social conservatives didn’t have the infrastructure necessary to capitalize on that win. Over the last 40 years, we’ve seen the grassroots, state legislatures and churches organize to make a difference in their communities. This is the moment to capitalize on that growth! Run for local office, encourage your pastors to start cultural impact teams and make sure you’re weighing in at school board meetings and state bills. Even when Washington fumbles, as it so often does, Christians of conviction in communities all across this nation can play a huge role in transforming not just government but the culture as well.

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.