FPL Daily News Reel: June 14, 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.
Senate rejects food-stamp cuts
By David Rogers — Politico
The decades-old farm and food stamps coalition held in the Senate on Wednesday, as 13 Republicans joined Democrats in blocking a tea party-led effort to cut nutrition funding almost in half and shift control back to the states.
How Broccoli Landed on Supreme Court Menu
By James B. Stewart — New York Times
Broccoli, of all things, came up in the Supreme Court during arguments over the constitutionality of the Obama administration’s health care legislation. If Congress can require Americans to buy health insurance, Justice Antonin Scalia asked, could it force people to buy just about anything — including a green vegetable that many find distasteful?
Bishops agree to prepare message on work and the economy
By Dennis Sadowski — Catholic News Service
Now, Bishop Blaire explained, the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development felt that because poverty continues to grow and the economy continues to lag, it is time to address the human and moral costs of the continuing economic crisis in a more public way.
10 Things You Need to Know About Religious Liberty
By Sally Steenland — Center for American Progress
The truth is that religious liberty is alive and well in this country. Being able to worship freely, to bring your faith into the public square, and to be free of the government imposing religion on you—these are all are hard-won achievements that should make us proud.
A Red State Rebuke to Religious Fear-Mongering
By John Nichols — Nation, Opinion
…the voters of North Dakota—not exactly a bastion of anticlericalism—have offered evidence that this cynical gaming of the age old debate over chuch-state relations might not get much traction.
New priests’ group hopes to preserve vision of Vatican II
By Michelle Bearden — Tampa Tribune
This week, about 240 priests from around the country are meeting at Saint Leo University in St. Leo for the inaugural assembly of the newly formed Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. Among its goals: To be a “voice of hope” and to “celebrate and implement the visionary concepts of Vatican Council II.”
Immigrant Discrimination Through a Child’s Eyes
By Trevor Scott Barton — Sojourners
Jonathan, a serious and soft-spoken Latino child, raised his hand and said, “That picture reminds me of my dad. He tried to come here from Mexico. The police chased him and made him go away. He was scared like Harriet Tubman.”
Faith groups tout anti-discrimination bill
By Bob Allen — Associated Baptist Press
“As a nation, we cannot tolerate arbitrary discrimination against millions of Americans just because of who they are,” the letter said. “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people should be without fear.”
Limbaugh Accuses Group Of U.S. Catholic Nuns Of “Hav[ing] Gone Feminazi”
By Media Matters for America
From the June 13 edition of Premiere Radio Networks’ The Rush Limbaugh Show
Secret money fuels the 2012 elections
By E.J. Dionne Jr. — Washington Post, Opinion
It’s preposterous that our system has handed over so much power to those with large fortunes that the only way to get matters under control is to have one group of rich people check the power of another group of rich people. Maybe the absurdity of it all will finally force the Supreme Court and Congress to bring us back to something more reasonable. It’s called democracy.
