FPL Daily News Reel: July 24, 2012
The FPL News Reel is a daily round-up of the top faith and politics stories in the news. You can sign up for the email version of the News Reel here, subscribe to the RSS feed here, and follow it on twitter at @FPLNewsreel.
Is gun control a religious issue?
By David Gibson — Religion News Service
Complicating matters politically is that conservative Christians who form the bulk of the anti-abortion movement are less enthused than almost everyone else about gun control.
Time to ban assault weapons
By Miguel De La Torre — Associated Baptist Press, Opinion
What we the public — especially those of us who claim to follow the God of life — must do is to put an end to the instruments that bring death. We can begin by holding politicians responsible.
The Divine Miss M
By Frank Bruni — New York Times, Opinion
Bachmann’s on to something: dangerous fundamentalists have indeed set up camp deep inside the capital. She can find one in her office. She need only look in the mirror.
Working poor stand at center of Medicaid debate
By Christopher Sherman and Juan Carlos Llorca — Associated Press
Families like the Gallegos stand at the center of a debate over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, which could have expanded Medicaid coverage to 1.3 million uninsured Texans.
Low-Income Older Women Will Be Worst Hit if States Don’t Expand Medicaid
By Bryce Covert — The Nation
There’s that pesky gender wage gap: it compounds by age, but also trickles into other areas, since Social Security benefits and pensions are often calculated or laid away based on wages earned over a lifetime. Women, who on average make less, will get lower payments. That means women have far less income to cover medical expenses while uninsured, even as they need care more than ever.
Delay on Domestic Violence
By New York Times, Editorial
With Congress just days away from its August break, House Republicans have to decide which is more important: protecting victims of domestic violence or advancing the harsh antigay and anti-immigrant sentiments of some on their party’s far right. At the moment, harshness is winning.
Republican Jobs Bills Won’t Actually Create Jobs, Say Economists
By Erin Mershon — Huffington Post
In interviews conducted by The Huffington Post with five economists, most said the GOP jobs package would have no meaningful impact on job creation in the near term. Some said it was not likely to do much in the long term, either.
How does Mormonism shape Romney’s foreign policy?
By Joanna Brooks — Religion Dispatches, Opinion
I believe Romney’s neoconservativism is more a relationship of convenience than an article of faith.
How Do You Call the Cops on the Cops? Sobering Accounts of Abuse by Border Patrol
By Maryada Vallet — Sojourners, God’s Politics
The political climate around immigration and border enforcement is trying to convince us that through cruelty we attain our security. This culture of impunity occurs in the name of Homeland Security, and in my name and your name, too. But border security that is built by degrading life and dignity is not real security.
