Casey Pops Predictions for 2018 : Part 2 (Taxes, Immigrants, Christianity)

THE REST OF MY 2018 PREDICTIONS FOR THE US. • 6. TAX CUTS WILL SPEARHEAD THE TRUMP ECONOMIC GROWTH PLAN. The Democrats and mainstream media are crying wolf, saying that the new tax plan will favor business and the rich and leave the middle class paying more taxes. American Thinker last week called the tax cuts a "No-brainer: Trump's tax cuts will help, help, help the economy. It appears that remedial economics needs to be taught to all congressional Democrats, most journalists, the CBO, many economists, and liberal think-tanks so they can learn what corporations will do with their 14% rate cut and how the economy will be affected along with government revenues throughout the United States. The corporations will spend it, invest it, or save it. It appears that a significant portion of the 14% will be spent on wages and bonuses. When those wages are paid, the federal government will get between 10% and 37% in income taxes. It will collect up to 12.4% Social Security taxes and 2.9% Medicare taxes. States will all collect their income taxes, then the employees will spend a significant portion generating additional sales and other taxes throughout the US, and then those businesses where they spend the money also generate many taxes. The overall tax take for government is much higher than the 14% cut. The multiplier effect on the economy is amazing. While on paper it may appear that federal revenues would go down because of the cut, bringing back the money from overseas and allowing the private sector to keep more money allows a tremendous multiplier effect. Allowing the private sector to keep the money would clearly help every state and local taxing body because they would get more, not less. They would not have to rely on the federal government to redistribute money after keeping a lot for themselves." • LifeZette pointed out some things about the ProgDem criticism that are very interesting. The ProgDems want a higher minimum wage. Guess what -- some businesses are raising their minimum wage to $15, which is over a $6,000-per-year raise. Other businesses will have to compete, so they'll raise their wages, too. ProgDems have pushed for a $15 minimum wage, and this increase is more than anything workers got during Obama's eight years. • Another interesting aspect of the ProgDem criticism is that their heaviest attacks on the just-passed federal tax reform were directed at the measure’s corporate tax cuts, calling it a massive giveaway to the rich. But, while prominent Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Durbin trashed the idea, their extremely blue home states have been cutting corporate tax rates, along with a dozen states that have changed their corporate tax rates since 2012, and all going down, according to a recent report by the Tax Foundation. New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, Democrat-leaning New Mexico and the deepest of blue District of Columbia all cut corporate taxes. Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union, says : “State leaders are recognizing what many on the national level so far have failed to grasp” -- states have cut their corporate tax rates to remain competitive in the struggle to lure and retain job-creating companies. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that passed Congress this week dramatically slashes business taxes. Adam Michel, a policy analyst for the influential Heritage Foundation, said there is no legitimate reason why corporate tax reductions would be a good idea on the state level but a negative for the federal government. He said the main rationale motivating states -- to increase competitiveness -- also applies to the national government : “If you look globally, as well, you see the exact same trend.” Michel said corporate taxes are an inefficient way to raise revenue because capital is highly mobile. If companies face onerous taxes in one country, he said, they can easily shift profits to lower-tax nations. That is exactly what has been happening, he said. • BUT, the most amazing thing is that Senator Chuck Schumer -- now complaining loudly about the Trump tax plan -- in 2015 worked with Senatpr Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, on legislation to cut corporate taxes to lure cash held overseas back home. Schumer told Fortune magazine in 2015 : “The companies make a fortune overseas. They’d rather bring the money back here.” And, in 2016, Schumer told CNBC that corporate tax cuts would be one of his highest priorities and made it clear that he favored a cut more enduring than a one-time tax holiday, saying : “You can’t do a one-shot deal.” Sepp commented that : “Even the Obama administration was receptive to taking the corporate tax rate below 30%.” Yes, then-President Barack Obama in 2012 proposed cutting the top corporate tax rate to 28%, with certain preferences for manufacturers that would give them an effective rate of 25%. • Stephen Moore, a economist who helped the Trump campaign develop the candidate’s tax proposal, said the Democrat rhetoric over the last month is consistent with a party that has drifted further and further Left on tax issues. He said the days when the Democrats have a robust growth wing in their party are long gone. And despite a few outliers on state-level corporate tax cuts, Moore said, the trend on taxes across the country has been one of partisan divergence : “The red states are cutting their taxes and the blue states aren’t." • I predict -- just for the Progressive high tax troopers -- that under the new Trump tax plan, tax revenues will increase substantially for local to federal govenrment, governors of high-tax states will lower state taxes, businesses will bring their funds back ot America and will invest them in US expansions, and US offshore businesses will move to the US because we are the biggest economy in the world. • • • 7. TRUMP WILL DO A DEAL FOR DACA "DREAMERS" IN EXCHANGE FOR A WALL AND A BIGGER BORDER SECURITY BUDGET, WHILE DOUBLING DOWN ON DEPORTING ILLEGALS WHO ARE CRIMINALS. Zero Hedge reported just before Christmas that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its findings on the immigration status of federal prison inmates, as mandated in an Executive Order signed during President Trump’s first week in office. The DHS report reveals that "of the 37,557 confirmed immigrants in the federal prison system, 35,334 (94%) of them are in the United States illegally -- which...in 2014, cost US taxpayers $1.87 billion to house. It should be noted that the 19% figure is based on known illegals in federal prison -- while 58,766 individuals are “known or suspected” to be illegal. If we apply the 94% confirmed illegal rate to the “known or suspected” population, it brings the total number of potential incarcerated illegal immigrants to 55,240 – or 30% of federal incarcerations." (DHS Alien Incarceration Report, Q4 2017) • The report also points out that the federal prison population is 10%, with state and local facilities containing the vast majority of incarcerated individuals in the US. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said : “The American people deserve a lawful system of immigration that serves the national interest. But at the border and in communities across America, our citizens are being victimized by illegal aliens who commit crimes. Nearly 95% of confirmed aliens in our federal prisons are here illegally. We know based on sentencing data that non-citizens commit a substantially disproportionate number of drug-related offenses, which contributes to our national drug abuse crisis. The simple fact is that any offense committed by a criminal alien is ultimately preventable.” • Immigrant rights groups predictably had a major problem with the report, claiming racism and manipulated data. Tom Jawetz, VP for immigration policy at the Progressive-Globalist (Soros fuded) Center for American Progress, reacted to the DHS report : “The report proves one thing only: The administration will take any opportunity possible to twist facts to demonize immigrants. The vast majority of immigrants in federal prison are there for crimes that only immigrants can be charged with -- illegal entry and illegal entry after removal. When you cook the books you shouldn’t pretend to be surprised by the results.” • Jawetz unwittingly got it right -- as AG Sessions said, there is a simple way to erase the problem and the statistic -- deport all illegals, especially those with criminal records. Illegal criminals are the group that the DHS and ICE are going after under Turump's EO, or what's left of it after Leftist federal judges in Chicago and California ruled much of it "unconstitutional," putting its enforcement on hold. • In May, Sessions announced the expansion and modernization of the Justice Department’s Institutional Hearing Program responsible for deportation hearings of incarcerated individuals. The new measures will fast-track the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, which according to Sessions, will speed up the process by removing the criminal immigrant as soon as their sentence is complete -- as opposed to sending them to another facility to await deportation. Sessions said : "We owe it to the American people to ensure that illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes and are serving time in our federal prisons are expeditiously removed from our country as the law requires.” • DHS also reported last week that : "Deportations of illegal aliens living across the United States in the interior of the country increased 37% after President Trump signed his Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States Executive Order five days after being inaugurated. A year-end Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report reveals how effective Trump’s pro-enforcement executive order has been throughout the first year of his presidency thus far, with deportations of illegal aliens living in the US -- and not those caught at the border -- peaking at more than 61,000 between January 20 to September 30, 2017. Overall, Trump’s ICE in the full Fiscal Year of 2017 deported 226,119 illegal aliens, including those caught at the southern border and those arrested and deported from the interior of the US. This is a slight decrease from the Fiscal Year 2016 deportations, when more than 240,000 illegal aliens were deported, but....The ICE report notes: "The decrease in ICE’s overall removal numbers from FY2016 to FY2017 was primarily due to the decline in border apprehensions in 2017. Many fewer aliens were apprehended at the border in FY2017 than in FY2016 -- possibly reflecting an increased deterrent effect from ICE’s stronger interior enforcement efforts." • There is constant discussion from the Republican establishment, Democrats, the open borders lobby, and corporate interests about giving amnesty to at least roughly 800,000 illegal aliens under the Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. AG Sessions, in September, announced the official termination of DACA, to take place in March 2018. Since then, establishment Republicans and Democrats have sought to push the Trump administration to sign off on an amnesty. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in November that she supported giving DACA illegal aliens amnesty : “I believe that we must and we owe it to them to find a permanent solution,” Nielsen said of passing a DACA amnesty that could potentially lead to a chain migration of 9.9 million to 19 million foreign nationals pouring into the US legally. “It’s no way to expect anyone to live a month or two months at a time,” said Nielsen, even though the DACA work-permits each last for two years. BUT, in December, Nielsen admitted in an interview that illegal aliens seeking to cross into the US pay attention to the national discussion on immigration and amnesty to get a grasp on when is the best time to enter the country : “They have money, they have time, and this is their job. So they do watch. They watch what’s happening in Congress. They watch what’s happening as part of our national conversation and they learn...So we see more and more loopholes being exploited.” • I predict that President Trump will, in 2018, agree to a DACA amnesty WITHOUT chain migration, in return for funding for the southern border Wall and an end to chain migration in general. • • • 8. TRUMP'S MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE IN AMERICA IS HIS SUPPORT FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ITS VALUES. Progressives and the 'post-Christian' world of politics and the media have felt safe attacking American Christians for their beliefs and values ever since 2008 when candidate Barack Obama made a statement in Pennsylvania that outraged Christians all over America : "Referring to working-class voters in old industrial towns decimated by job losses, the presidential hopeful said: 'They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.' " • Zero Hedge wrote on Christmas Day about " 'Chrislam' - Europe Folds To The Islamization Of Christmas." The point made by the Zero Hedge article is critically important for its lessons about the future of America : "The re-theologizing of Christmas is based on the false premise that the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus (Isa) of the Koran. This religious fusion, sometimes referred to as “Chrislam,” is gaining ground in a West that has become biblically illiterate. This year’s Christmas season has been marked by Islam-related controversies in nearly every European country. Most of the conflicts have been generated by Europe’s multicultural political and religious elites, who are bending over backwards to secularize Christmas, ostensibly to ensure that Moslems will not be offended by the Christian festival." The article points out that : "Many traditional Christmas markets have been renamed -- Amsterdam Winter Parade, Brussels Winter Pleasures, Kreuzberger Wintermarkt, London Winterville, Munich Winter Festival -- to project a multicultural veneer of secular tolerance. More troubling are the growing efforts to Islamize Christmas....In Britain, for instance, the All Saints Church in Kingston upon Thames recently held a joint birthday celebration for Jesus and Mohammed. The 'Milad, Advent and Christmas Celebration' on December 3 was aimed at 'marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammed and looking forward to the birthday of Jesus.' The hour-long service included time for Islamic prayer and was followed by the cutting of a birthday cake." Zero Hedge cites the prominent Christian blog “Archbishop Cranmer” that rebuked the church for its lack of discernment : “Note how this event is ‘Marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammed,’ but not looking forward to the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mohammed gets his prophethood, while Jesus gets neither his prophethood nor his priesthood; neither his kingship nor his messiahship. It’s the exalted Prophet Mohammed along with plain old Jesus, because to have added any of his claims to divinity would, of course, have alienated many Moslems...which wouldn’t have been very interfaith or sensitively missional, would it?” The blog added that exalting Mohammed in churches effectively proclaims that Mohammed is greater than Jesus : "Every time a church accords Mohammed the epithet ‘Prophet,’ they are rejecting the crucifixion, denying the resurrection of Christ, and refuting that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, for Mohammed denied all of these foundational tenets of the Christian faith.” • The political elites in the UK are not immune to this "Chrislam" bastardization. Zero Hedge noted that : " In London, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Moslems, a parliamentary group composed of members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, issued a report, 'A Very Merry Moslem Christmas,' aimed at drawing attention to the 'humanity' of Moslems during Christmas. The report states : 'Too often, Moslem charities come to our attention because of negative media coverage...What we hear even less about is the ‘Moslem Merry Christmas.’ The soup kitchens, the food banks, the Christmas dinners, the New Year clean-up -- work Moslem charities will be busy doing during the Christmas period.” • In Denmark, Zero Hedge told the story of a primary school in Graested cancelled a traditional church service marking the beginning of Christmas in order not to offend Moslem pupils. Some parents accused the school of having double-standards : it recently held an event called “Syria Week” in which children immersed themselves in Middle Eastern culture. Ignoring parents, the school board sided with the school : “The board backs the school’s decision to create new traditions that involve children and young people.” Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who attended the school as a child, said the decision should be reversed. Health Minister Ellen Trane Norby added : “Danish primary schools have a duty to spread education -- and teaching the cultural values and knowledge connected to Christmas is an essential part of that.” • In France, the annual Christmas market in the Croix-Rousse district of Lyon was cancelled because of exorbitant security costs associated with protecting the event from Islamic terror. The city’s famous annual festival of lights did go ahead this year. The military governor of Lyon, General Pierre Chavancy, said that, because of the “sensitivity” of the event, 1,500 soldiers and police, backed up by dogs, river brigades and mine-clearers, would be deployed to provide security. In fact, 100,000 police and military were deployed in France to protect Christmas markets, large cities and their churches, and synagogues, from Christmastide attacks by islamic jihadist terrorists. • In Belgium, Zero Hedge reported that the head of the Red Cross in Liège, André Rouffart, ordered all 28 offices in the city to remove crucifixes to affirm the organization’s secular identity. Critics said the decision was part of a broader effort to “modify certain terminologies” and to “break with our traditions and our roots” in order to appease Moslems. “We once said Christmas holidays, now we say winter holidays,” said a local Red Cross volunteer. “The Christmas market in Brussels has been renamed ‘Winter Pleasures.’ Let things remain as they are.” • In Islam-beseiged Germany, Zero Hedge pointed out that a school in Lüneburg postponed a Christmas party after a Moslem student complained that the singing of Christmas carols during school was incompatible with Islam. The school’s decision to reschedule the event as a non-compulsory after-school activity generated “a flood of hate mail and even threats against school management and school board,” according to Focus. In an effort to appease angry parents, Headmaster Friedrich Suhr said that “non-Christian” Christmas songs such as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” would not be banned. Alexander Gauland, the leader of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), said the school’s action was “an unbearable, involuntary submission to Islam” and amounted to a “cowardly injustice” toward non-Moslem children. In Munich, ads for a multicultural “winter market” depicted a snowman covered in a burqa. The chairman of the AfD in Bavaria, Petr Bystron, noted the irony : “A burqa snowman as a tolerance symbol?” In Halle, the Christmas market was renamed “Wintermarket.” In Berlin, the traditional Christmas market was protected by walls of concrete barriers to prevent a repeat of last year’s jihadist attack in which 12 people were killed and more than 50 injured. In Stuttgart, a 53-year-old man was arrested at the Christmas market after he claimed to carrying a bomb in his backpack. In Potsdam, the Christmas market was closed after a nearby pharmacy received a letter bomb. In Bonn, the Christmas market was evacuated due to a bomb threat. • In Italy, a school in Milan removed references to Christmas at a party and renamed the holiday as “The Great Festival of Happy Holidays,” as reported by Zero Hedge : "Writing on Facebook, local politician Samuele Piscina accused the school of implementing 'a politically correct leftist policy' that deprives Italian children the joy of Christmas : 'After the nativity scenes and the crucifixes, now even Christmas parties are hindered in schools. The word ‘Christmas,’ a symbol of our faith and our culture, does not discriminate against anyone. Striking the emblems of Christmas does not guarantee anyone’s respect, does not produce a welcoming and inclusive school and society, but fosters intolerance towards our culture, our customs, our laws and our traditions. We firmly believe that our traditions must be respected.' In Bolzano, a cardboard Christmas tree was ordered to be removed from the town hall because 'it could have offended the sensibilities' of Moslems. A local politician, Alessandro Urzì, expressed outrage at the decision : 'The bureaucratic rigor with which the tree was removed to avoid the risk of annoying someone reflects the barbarization of the cultural climate.' ” • In Norway, Zero Hedge reported that a primary school in Skien announced that its Christmas festivities this year would include "not only the usual reading by pupils of verses from the Bible but also two verses from the Koran which refer to Jesus. The inimitable Bruce Bawer explained the implications : 'Stigeråsen School’s Christmas plans provide yet another example of dhimmitude : craven European submission to Islam. This year, there might be a couple of Koran verses in a Christmas show; next year, a yuletide event at which both religions are celebrated on an even footing; and not too many years after that, perhaps, a children’s celebration at which there is no cross and no Christmas tree, only prayer rugs, benedictions in Arabic, and hijabs for the girls.' " • Finally, in Spain, Zero Hedge reports that the Madrid City Council "replaced Christmas festivities in the capital with a neo-Pagan 'International Fair of the Cultures.' According to Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena, a former member of Spain’s Communist Party, the express purpose of the month-long event is to de-Christianize Christmas to make it more inclusive : 'We all know that Christmas is a festival of religious origin, but it is also a celebration of humanity, solidarity. Therefore, the Madrid City Council wants to do everything possible so that everyone who is in this city, from wherever they may be, can enjoy Christmas.' Breaking with tradition, the Madrid city hall also refused to place a nativity scene at the Puerta de Alcalá, one of the city’s most iconic monuments. Local politician José Luis Martínez-Almeida accused Carmena of 'enthusiastically collaborating in the celebration of Ramadan' but 'trying to hide all the Christian symbols of Christmas.' He added : 'We want to reclaim our cultural and religious roots.' ” • That is a long litany of the details of European islamization that is growing rapidly all over Europe, and when any conservative or Christian group complains, they are labeled racist and xenophobic. We need to know what is going on in Europe because it is filtering into American politics. InfoWars gave examples of Progressive Democrat politicians trying to avoid Christmas when tweeting " 'Christmas' Greetings." • Some ProgDems just skipped Chriqtmas in 2107 : prominent ProgDem leaders like Senators and Representatives including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Maxine Waters, and even Hillary Clinton and the DNC didn’t acknowledge Christmas Day on Twitter – unlike most Republican leaders – or did so only after being publicly called out for their omission. Meanwhile, President Trump wished America a Merry Christmas on social media : "@realDonaldTrump MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 2:36 PM - Dec 25, 2017." President Trump got 31,001 Replies, 45,728 Retweets, and 179,693 likes. • Vice President Mike Pence joined in : "@VP From our family to yours, Karen and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day with family, friends, and loved ones! #MerryChristmas. 3:05 PM - Dec 25, 2017." VP Pence's Christmas message got 28,239 likes. • Senator Rand Paul tweeted : "@RandPaul Merry Christmas! Sen. Rand and Kelley Paul's Christmas Message https://youtu.be/fFuCFJ17Z2c via @YouTube. 5:19 PM - Dec 25, 2017." • Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted : "@PRyan From my family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. 3:10 PM - Dec 25, 2017." • The Republican National Committee tweeted : "@GOP Wishing a very Merry Christmas to you and yours. 3:49 PM - Dec 25, 2017." • Senator Marco Rubio tweeted : "@marcorubio “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” — Isaiah 9:6. 2:10 PM - Dec 25, 2017." • Nancy Pelosi tweeted lqte on Christmas Day : "@NancyPelosi Merry Christmas! This time of year always allows us a truly special time to reflect on the miraculous blessings of family, community and Country. I wish you all the very best during this Holiday Season. 7:43 PM - Dec 25, 2017." • THE DIVIDE is obvious. The Progressive Globalist Left rejects Christmas because it stands for everything they are against -- family, tradition, Christian values, good will towards man, love, AND the US Constitution and Republic that rest on Christian values. Left-leaning publications like Newsweek recently suggested Christmas is a “dog whistle” for white supremacy. That seems a stretch, indeed, since Christmas celebrates the birth of a Man who was born in the Middle East of a Jewish mother. • In fact, Israel Today noted on December 26 that Israel "Must Again Remind Palestinian Leaders That Jesus Was Jewish." Israel Today wrote : "Yesterday was Christmas, which means that local Christians were once again treated to a rant by Palestinian leaders trying to appropriate Jesus as part of their cause against Israel. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas published a Christmas greeting that referred to Jesus as 'a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world.' Abbas' predecessor and mentor, Yasser Arafat, began this shameful Christmas tradition decades ago. As in other years, Israel's Foreign Ministry responded with scorn. 'He should have read the Gospel before uttering such offensive nonsense, but we will forgive him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing,' ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the Times of Israel, as he echoed Jesus example of forgiving those who wrong you. Abbas spent the rest of the letter blaming all of the Palestinians' ills on Israel and the so-called 'occupation.' Palmor noted that despite being a 'Christmas' greeting, the letter didn't at all fit the spirit of the season. 'Maybe he needs a hug from Santa?' the Israeli asked facetiously. One part of the letter that many Israelis did take particular offense over was Abbas' assertion that the bulk of the Palestinian Christian population had fled Bethlehem and its environs because of Israel. As several officials noted, Christians lived quietly and prosperously in the region right up until Bethlehem was handed over to the Palestinian Authority. It was only then that they started emigrating en masse." • Israel's transportation minister announced last week that a train station set to be built adjacent to Jerusalem's Western Wall will be named after President Trump to honor his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Yisrael Katz told the Jerusalem Post : “The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after president Trump -- following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel." The move came just weeks after President Trump rejected the international community that calls Tel Aviv the Israeli capital and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. • What is happening wiht Progressive Democrat leaders in the US is just the beginning of what will be their effort to totally secularize America and drive Christinaity out of the Republic. It's hard to decide if these peopel are really pro-Islam or just anti-Constitution and anti-Christianity. In Europe it has become an easy call because Europe is now so replete with Moslems in every country that accommodating Islam is a necessity unless leaders want to risk unleashing the imported and homebred radical terrorist jihadists in their midst on their Christian populations. That is a warning to beware, America. • And, that brings us to President Trump, our Christian President who calls out his Christianity. The Reverend Franklin Graham in December noted on Facebook that Trump has done more for Christianity than any recent President. Reverend Graham was praising President Trump for his remarks at the lighting of the national Christmas tree, saying that Trump had gone above and beyond the call of duty in being a voice and a warrior for people of faith : “Never in my lifetime have we had a President willing to take a strong, outspoken stand for the Christian faith like President Donald J. Trump has. Whether you are Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Catholic -- all Christians need to get behind him with our prayers.” • President Trump raised eyebrows with an unapologetically Christian-themed speech at the tree lighting -- a marked change from the irreligious themes of former President Barack Obama. Trump's remarks brought joy to Christian hearts, when he said : “For Christians this is a holy season, the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Christmas story begins 2,000 years ago with a mother, a father, their baby son, and the most extraordinary gift of all -- the gift of God’s love for all of humanity. Whatever our beliefs we know that the birth of Jesus Christ and the story of this incredible life forever changed the course of human history. There’s hardly an aspect of our lives today that His life has not touched -- art, music, culture, law and our respect for the sacred dignity of every person, everywhere in the world.” • As Fix This Nation put it : "To American Christians who have watched their faith in Jesus turn into a near-anachronism in today’s increasingly-multicultural liberal landscape, it is unimaginably refreshing to hear a US President forgo the niceties and get right to the meat of the matter. A blatantly religious speech at the start of a religious holiday doesn’t necessarily change the culture overnight, but it does bring the power of the bully pulpit back where it belongs. Instead of constantly criticizing and apologizing for Christianity, the way Obama did, Trump has dispensed with the political correctness in his recognition of this country’s founding faith. Donald Trump is hardly an icon for the 'Christian life,' but there’s a reason why so many evangelicals -- both prominent and rank-and-file -- see him as their last, best hope to turn America around. His steadfast unwillingness to buckle under the pressure of the mainstream, liberal culture makes him impervious to the crashing waves of multiculturalism that felled so many previous conservatives. He doesn’t pretend to be holier than thou, and it is in his willingness to get down and dirty -- to fight it out to the death -- that he has become one of American Christianity’s greatest modern champions." • Today, the Progressive Left tries to make the argument that Christianity does not "fit" the First Amendment right to free speech -- of course, the two rights, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, are compatible and in no way restrict each other as either-or constitutional rights. But, we are told by ProgDems and Leftist judges to see Christianity as impinging on a more important right to free speech -- the wedding cake travesties are prime examples. There is no reason a religiously motivated person cannot tell those customers who are asking him or her to violate their beliefs to go elsewhere for their wedding cakes and come back for other baked goods. That is not repressing the right to free speech -- it is the fundamental axiom of the Constitution -- liberty demands personal responsibility. Everyone has personally important liberties and rights and can use them. Others may have other personally important liberties and rights and can use them. But, the nature of the US constitutional compact between government and citizens, and among citizens, is that we must accommodate the rights and liberties of our fellow Americans. Today, that idea is brushed aside by Progressives who demand that their right be THE most important -- there is no idea of compromise or spirit of understanding for others' beliefs, especially if they are Christian. • I predict that President Trump will find many opportunities in 2018 to assert the fundamental Christianity of the United States. He has already given us back our Merry Christmas -- through his speeches and official White House Christmas card and decorations in the White House. He has taken the Judeo-Christian position that Jerusalem is, indeed always has been, the capital of the Jewish people. He has made it alright to be Christian again, just as he has made it alright to be conservative and to be supporters of a strong and secure America. So, this prediction is not so much an educated guess as it is a certainty. While Donald Trump is President, America will remain a Christian nation. • Tomorrow we will wrap up our 2018 predictions with a look at what the world can expect in 2018.