Barack Obama's presidency has been a disaster. He is either unwilling to or incapable of doing his job. The economy is in shambles, the government is failing, and Americans are losing hope. Barack Obama was not ready to be President. He's not the solution. You are.

You have the opportunity to turn our economy, our government, and our country around by electing Republicans and restoring your voice in Washington. But to win this fall, we must start today. It's up to you to save your country. Are you ready? Because November starts now.

Rule number one is perhaps the simplest yet most hard ... and that is:

1. Lighten up – keep a relaxed face.

The most important minute of your life on the stage or in the boardroom or across the table is the first minute of your acknowledgement by the audience, or your dinner guest or your kid’s soccer coach by what is said in that initial look. Because early in a speech, presentation, talk, folks listen to what they “see” more that what they “hear”. So what they “see” must be professional, poised and polished.

"I sense a disturbance in the Force."

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is concerned about a “disturbing surge in Republican fundraising,” according to an e-mail she wrote to Democratic supporters Tuesday.

In a missive to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) e-mail list, Pelosi thanked donors for helping the committee reach their fundraising goal, but warned that Republicans were jumping out ahead.

“[J]ust as soon as word came of the contribution that put us over the top, we received news of a disturbing surge in Republican fundraising,” Pelosi wrote. “House Republicans are now claiming to have had their strongest fundraising in five years.”

The speaker made a plea for donations to help “close the gap.”

Summer is heating up in South Carolina, and so is our transition process. We are in transition mode; new staff, new goals, and examining the duties of State Treasurer. Since June 8th, we have put forth a considerable effort building a second-to-none team of the brightest, most energetic individuals who will help turn our campaign ideals to reality.

Over the next several months our team will begin meeting with members of the Budget & Control Board, Board of Financial Institutions, and the State Treasurer’s Office with the goal of developing our game plan for bringing reform to state government. On January 12, 2011 we will be prepared with a plan to deliver on our campaign promises.

Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted audits of employee files at more than 2,900 companies. The agency has levied a record $3 million in civil fines so far this year on businesses that hired unauthorized immigrants, according to official figures. Thousands of those workers have been fired, immigrant groups estimate.

The problem with the Tea Party, I think it's just unsustainable because they can never come up with a coherent vision for governing the country. It will die out.

The idea of Jesus is mainly our “friend” is deeply rooted in our particular religious culture. Our lack of reverence expresses itself in everything from our worship to our evangelism. How many times, for instance, have we seen an earnest Christian approach someone (including us) and ask, “Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?”

While intended as a means of carrying out the Great Commission, the question is asking something else entirely. In essence, it’s asking whether we possess God rather than whether God possess us. God is, indeed, our friend. But there is something about claiming God as our “personal” friend that seems to imply that we are putting him in the same category as our “personal trainers” and “personal assistants,” people who serve us, rather than someone whom we are expected to serve. When Jesus becomes someone we can befriend he becomes someone we can take lightly.

Jesus, however, is not my homeboy. The term “homeboy” always implies a co-equal relationship and never refers to someone who could be considered either superior or an inferior. Jesus may be a friend, but he is not my “buddy.” Christ is my master, my redeemer, my Lord and my God.

Last Friday, I had an amazing trip to South Carolina.

The most emotional moment was standing in Charleston with Tim Scott at the site of the largest slave auction house in pre-Civil War America.

This is great news that South Carolininans are coming to their senses about this gentlemanly sport and realize that there is nothing wrong with being proud of watching chickens fight to a bloody death. We can only hope this is a sign that we'll be soon be able to turn back the clock to the days when barns full of spectators can once more cheer on these prized animals pecking and tearing each other to death.