Hobby Lobby vs. Obamacare

What if congress mandated everyone to have Verizon as their phone service and Ingles as the only store you could buy groceries from, and if you did not oblige by these terms you would be penalized with heavy fines and possibly prison? Sounds like crazy talk, but this is exactly what Obamacare is doing to Hobby Lobby. (For more of this crazy talk click here.)

The Christian-based arts and crafts store will be forced to pay $1.3 million per day to the IRS for not complying with the abortion mandate which is a part of the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is government-funded health insurance that requires that companies provide abortion and contraceptive coverage for their employees. Hobby Lobby has refused to comply with these unconstitutional terms due to their religious beliefs.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act states, “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability…”

Hobby Lobby has claimed that it would violate their conscience to provide coverage for something that goes against their religious beliefs.

“The government is forcing us to choose between following our faith and following the law,” says Owner and CEO of Hobby Lobby David Green.

Hobby Lobby appealed this abortion supporting mandate; however, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied Hobby Lobby’s appeal to the Obamacare mandate. So far,12 for-profit companies filed cases against the mandate. Nine of them have had the court rule an injunction against the mandate. Unfortunately for Hobby Lobby, there was not an injunction because the court claimed that it did not affect the conscience of the owners of Hobby Lobby directly.

How does offering insurance that covers abortions not affect their conscience directly? If you offer someone something, you are supporting that item or idea indirectly. The insurance plan that Hobby Lobby is refusing to offer will include coverage for abortions and abortion-inducing pills such as the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. Hobby Lobby will be forced to pay a certain percentage of the insurance, so therefore they would be financially supporting abortions.

“This is not just about Hobby Lobby–this is about you,” says Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. “If Hobby Lobby is forced to … ‘bow on their knees’ to a human government in direct conflict with their fundamentals of faith, then how long will it be before they come for you and your family?”

Strawberry Cream Cupcakes

 

Strawberries pair well with almost any kind of cake. Pound cake, vanilla cake, chocolate cake, coconut cake…You get the point. I had just finished the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network when I was inspired to bake something yummy. After looking at several pictures of gorgeous cupcakes, I decided to make strawberry cream cupcakes.

These strawberry cream cupcakes taste as good as they look. It all starts with how you mix it all together. It is important that when baking anything that you follow the recipe or general outlines according to the order the ingredients are mixed. Think of it like a chemistry experiment. You can mix a few chemicals together, but you may get different reactions, depending on the order you combine them. The order and time that you mix the ingredients can affect the density, flavor, and texture of your cake. To avoid over-mixing a cake, just mix until the ingredients are just well blended. 

It is normal for these cupcakes to come out pale.

When these cupcakes come out of the oven, they look very pale. The worst thing to have is a dry overdone cake! It is important to check to see if the cupcakes are done after about 15 minutes of baking. To check to see if they are done, inert a toothpick in the cupcake in the center while still in the oven. Do not take the cupcakes out of the oven before you check to see if they are done or else they may collapse. After you take the cupcakes out of the oven, let them cool on a wire rack. 

A simple presentation is always neat.

When the cupcakes are cooled completely, began the presentation. A nice neat presentation is always a must. Make it look well enough that you would want to “eat it with your eyes.” My motto when it comes to food presentations are that, simple is always better. Go ahead and try these cupcakes. I promise you want be disappointed.

Click here for the recipe.

Click here to view a slideshow about making strawberry cream cupcakes.

Cooking Tips:

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cake-baking-00412000067467/page8.html

http://baking911.com/search-results?category=all&key=butter

Sources:

"10 Secrets to Baking Pefect Cakess." Cooking Light . Web. 21 Jan. 2013. <http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/techniques/cake-baking-00412000067467/page8.html>.

Phillips, Sarah . "Cakes - The Baker's Dozen Tips for Success ." Baking911. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013. <http://baking911.com/learn/baked-goods/cakes/tips-success>.