FPL Daily News Reel: August 21, 2012
After a six-year run bringing you the best faith and politics news every day, Faith in Public Life will be ending the daily news reel email on Friday, August 24th. Thanks for your loyal readership. If you want to stay up to date on all things faith and politics, you can follow our Twitter account @BoldFaithType, where we will be posting stories throughout the day.
From Nunzilla to ‘You Go Girl’: A Tale of Sisters
By Katherine Marshall — Huffington Post, Opinion
With Paul Ryan now in the vice presidential spotlight, LCWR will not take a political stand. However, [Sr. Farrell] made clear that LCWR and its members will maintain their staunch support for the poor and programs that support them, and budgets will be an obvious focus.
The repugnant code behind Todd Akin’s words
By Washington Post, Editorial
Mr. Akin was utterly unconvincing in explaining that he “misspoke.” It is scary that someone so ill-informed could hold elective office or have a chance of becoming a senator.
Crucial Senate Race in Uproar
By Naftali Bendavid and Louise Radnofsky — Wall Street Journal
Republicans urged Rep. Todd Akin to quit the key Missouri Senate race after he said women’s bodies can avert pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape.”
What I built — with government help
By James C. Roumell — Washington Post, Opinion
I did work harder, and perhaps more imaginatively, than many colleagues. But does that mean I built it myself? Does it diminish my success to be grateful for the public investments that so clearly contributed to my success? Every successful person knows, and will admit if he is honest, that luck played a role in his good fortune.
The Promise-Keeper
By David Weigel — Slate
The point of all this: proving that the first “Medi-scare” battle of the election is ending and that Republicans have fought it to a draw. Ryan got his message down to a zinger, and repeated it all week. “We want this debate,” he said. “We need this debate. And we will win this debate.”
Ohio GOP Admits Early Voting Cutbacks Are Racially Motivated
By Ari Berman — The Nation
Why do Ohio Republicans suddenly feel so strongly about limiting early voting hours in Democratic counties? Franklin County (Columbus) GOP Chair Doug Preisse gave a surprisingly blunt answer to the Columbus Dispatch on Sunday: “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban—read African-American—voter-turnout machine.”
GOP prepares tough anti-abortion platform
By Peter Hamby — CNN
The Republican Party is once again set to enshrine into its official platform support for “a human life amendment” to the Constitution that would outlaw abortion without making explicit exemptions for rape or incest, according to draft language of the platform obtained exclusively by CNN late Monday.
Gov. Jan Brewer Tries to Stop the DREAM in Arizona
By Beau Underwood — Sojourners, God’s Politics
The faith community cannot be silent in the face of such despair. Gov. Brewer needs to hear from religious leaders disappointed in her actions in the hopes that such moral outrage might cause her to reverse course.
Farm Bill Blues
By Christian Century, Editorial
The farm bill is enormous in scope. It represents a mess of irrational, unhelpful policy; it’s also responsible for some essential programs. It needs to be reauthorized. Then it’s back to the longer-term work of building a food system that does right by farmers, eaters and the land.
Study: Less religious states give less to charity
By Jay Lindsay — Associated Press
The study released Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy found that residents in states where religious participation is higher than the rest of the nation, particularly in the South, gave the greatest percentage of their discretionary income to charity.
