FPL Daily News Reel: August 23, 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.
Dolan to Give Benediction at Gathering of the G.O.P.
By Sharon Otterman — New York Times
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York, will deliver the closing prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., after Mitt Romney accepts the party’s presidential nomination next week.
Cardinal Dolan at the Values Voter Summit?
By Maureen Fiedler — National Catholic Reporter, Opinion
An appearance at this summit is tantamount to an endorsement of Republican candidates. In fact, it’s an endorsement of some of the most right-wing members of that party. Indeed, because of the confirmed appearance of Paul Ryan at the summit, observers might be led to think Dolan endorses the Romney-Ryan ticket.
Christians push for new immigration process as they support deferred status
By Noel Castellanos — Washington Post, On Faith
Unfortunately, within a week, Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman have all made moves to stop these opportunities for young people. This is why Christians are mobilizing again. In just a few days a petition targeted at Brewer, who was the first to take steps to limit the effectiveness of deferred action, has gained over 5,000 signatures from concerned Christians.
Middle class share of America’s income shrinking
By Associated Press
A study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center…describes this mid-tier group as suffering its “worst decade in modern history,” having fallen backward in income for the first time since the end of World War II.
New poll finds majority oppose making changes to Medicare
By Daniel Strauss — The Hill
The Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS poll released Thursday found that in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, a majority of voters would rather Medicare “continue as it is.” Fewer than a third offered support for Ryan’s budget proposal that recipients get federal subsidies to buy private insurance.
Report: Romney Economic Plan Hurts Red States, Helps Wealthy Urbanites, While Obama Boosts Rural Areas
By Ari Melber — The Nation
Take the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where the median price of a home is $1.3 million. There, 73% of residents do better under Romney’s plan than Obama’s…Yet in the heartland, the economic map skews just as strongly towards Obama. It is almost impossible, for example, to find any large areas of Ohio that don’t fare better under Obama’s plan.
Florida’s Menacing Moves to Restrict Voting
By Graciela C. Catasús — The Nation, Voting Rights Watch 2012
Florida’s actions appear to follow similar trends in other swing states, leading many to wonder if this is a tandem effort to suppress voting rights in states with sizeable Latino populations. Colorado and New Mexico are also cracking down on voter fraud—despite the fact that there is no evidence that it actually exists.
GOP embraces anti-Shariah
By Alex Seitz-Wald — Salon
In Tampa this week, GOP leaders adopted a plank to their platform supporting a ban on foreign law and aimed at Shariah, the Islamic religious law that many conservatives insist is secretly insinuating itself in the U.S.
NYPD: Muslims’ Conversations About Anti-Muslim Bias Justify Spying on Muslims
By Adam Serwer — Mother Jones
An improperly redacted court transcript reveals an NYPD official’s dubious rationale for spying on Muslims.
RNC Now Says Anti-Abortion Platform Doesn’t Necessarily Disavow Rape Exemptions
By Pema Levy — Talking Points Memo
Though RNC officials pushed back on the extreme characterization of their platform earlier in the week, the idea they they are not taking a stand one way or the other on rape and incest exceptions is relatively new.
