Following is a message from Brian Swarts, National Coordinator of Micah Challenge USA. It is also posted at God's Politics.

Tonight US presidential candidates will meet to debate foreign policy. Yesterday the United Nations met to discuss our progress towards cutting global poverty in half by 2015.

While most of us in America are focused on our financial mess in Wall Street, there is another major crisis taking place – one of life and death. Right now, the developing world faces a major hunger crisis that threatens to push an additional 70 million into extreme poverty. Just as the US government is taking bold action to stem financial troubles for wealthy banks, people of faith are calling on our leaders to remember their promises to the poor and to take bold actions to stem rising hunger and poverty.

In response to this need for Christians to speak out for the poor, Micah Challenge USA is launching Micah's Challenge to the Future President, an open letter calling on McCain and Obama to support a foreign policy that renews America's commitment to the pledge to dramatically reduce poverty, disease and inequality by 2015 (Sign your name to the challenge).

On Monday, I moderated a press conference panel of American and global evangelical leaders in calling on the UN and US presidential candidates to take bold steps to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This conference was in response to a prophetic Letter on poverty, written by senior evangelical Christian leaders in the Global South, representing four continents and hundreds of millions of Christians. The Letter calls on Christians in the United States to protest the lack of progress that has been made toward cutting global poverty. Yesterday, I attended a meeting of more than 70 national religious leaders to discuss how the faith community is going to respond to the global hunger crisis, which threatens to be overshadowed by our own financial challenges.

The clear consensus of both these events was that is the faith community’s role, more than any other group in the country, to remind Americans of our responsibility to those who are suffering most. Just as we need to urge Congress to remember families losing their homes as they bail out banks, we need challenge our political leaders to remember our promises to those living in extreme poverty around the world.

Micah Challenge USA, a coalition of US evangelical denominations and institutions dedicated to fighting global poverty. Visit www.micahchallenge.us to read the “Letter to the Church in the United States” and ‘Micah’s Challenge to the Future President”

Continue reading "Micah's Challenge to the Future President" »

Posted by Dan at 01:31 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

Via TAPPED, Bono:

"It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."

Posted by Dan at 03:22 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Today's Los Angeles Times ran an editorial under the headline "The real issues of election 2008" calling for economic and security issues to take precedence in the presidential campaign:

Last year, Sen. John McCain finished last in a Republican presidential poll held in conjunction with the [Values Voter] summit. This year's summiteers were newly enthusiastic about McCain because of his selection of their kindred spirit, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as his running mate. Some of the faithful hope that the 2008 election will be a referendum on "values" -- as defined by them.

We hope they're wrong. A raft of issues will confront the next president: the faltering economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, a resurgent Russia, gaps in health insurance, energy policy and climate change. Especially after this week's turmoil in the financial markets, it's bizarre to suggest that this election should turn on abortion, same-sex marriage or the relationship between church and state. Though these remain important issues, the electorate would be the loser if they play as significant a role this year as they have in recent presidential races.

I guess I'd half agree with this. The more we focus on issues outside the culture wars, the better off we'll be, but we can't just wish wedge issues away. We need an alternative framework. Long wars typically don't end until one or both sides more or less run out of bullets, and as much as I've enjoyed watching the Religious Right's influence wane, their munitions factories are still humming along. I don't have the solution, but I think a good starting point is deciding whether we're trying to end the war or trying to win it. It is an important distinction, and one that each of us who care about politics owe ourselves to ask. I for one don't think this war can end in victory -- for either side.

Posted by Dan at 03:39 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Yesterday numerous religious leaders called on candidates for public office (not just the presidentials) to make poverty a more urgent priority. A group of more than 100 called specifically for relief and rebuilding on the hurricane- and poverty-ravaged Gulf Coast:

In an attempt to solve what they called a "moral crisis," the religious leaders sent the statement to national leaders of both parties to urge them to restore the Gulf Coast communities by creating resident-led partnerships that will enable residents to help rebuild their communities.

The statement also called for government officials to increase federal and state funding for affordable housing and coastal wetland restoration, and to implement a flood control system to protect the communities from future severe weather.

The statement and full list of signatories is here.

And in Washington, DC,

Praying outside the U.S. Capitol Sept. 16, Catholic, Protestant, Islamic and Jewish leaders invoked the words of the prophet Micah in calling upon candidates for public office in the Nov. 4 election to join with Americans of faith concerned about the growing poverty in the U.S. to work for justice for the poor.

It's important to make these statements right now. A new administration and a new Congress will take the reins before we know it, and they'll put the most energy into the issues they hear about most from voters. If we don't put poverty on their radar, they'll do exactly nada about it. With faith leaders asking en masse, and in some cases face to face, the candidates and electeds won't be able put poverty on the back burner or sweep it under the rug as they have for decades.

Posted by Dan at 02:49 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The Fighting Poverty WIth Faith Week of Action discussed earlier has their own blog, which features an audio recording yesterday's press teleconference kickoff. On the call are JCPA Executive Director Rabbi Steve Gutow, Reps. John Lewis and Rosa DeLauro, Rev. Clarence Williams of Catholic Charities, and Dr. Jared Bernstein from the Economic Policy Institute. As a whole, they lay out the moral, theological, historical, political and strategic frameworks for cutting poverty drastically right now. Have a listen for some illuminating observations about how we can and why we must.

Posted by Dan at 04:29 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Yesterday, a nationwide interfaith campaign to increase the emphasis on poverty in the '08 election kicked off:

Faith leaders from 21 national organizations, led by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Catholic Charities USA, have joined forces to spend a week urging local, state and national politicians to make anti-poverty efforts a top priority.

Called "Fighting Poverty with Faith: A Week of Action," the grass-roots effort includes a range of activities, from a poverty symposium in Nashville, Tenn., to a letter-writing campaign in Rhode Island. The week culminates with a Sept. 16 gathering on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

With the McCain and Obama campaigns heading into the final two months before Election Day, Rabbi Steve Gutow, executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said the interfaith coalition can "hold the candidates responsible" for coming up with strategies to help the 37 million Americans who live below the federal poverty line.

To be fair, both party platforms address domestic poverty (albeit with rather different approaches and degrees of emphasis). But it's hard to argue that it's received due attention. Smart, dedicated people in the interfaith advocacy world have put a tremendous amount of effort into putting poverty back on the agenda. Their energy, and the faith-driven dedication of religious communities across the country, can make the difference. Poverty is a moral issue, and a far more important topic than how many houses John McCain has or whether Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig.

Posted by Dan at 09:30 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Words become cheap currency on the campaign trail. They're thrown about, dissected and retracted to the point that some voters judge them meaningless. But action is always preceded by words.

Setting the stage for real solutions on poverty, a diverse group of religious leaders has put the candidates on notice that their words matter. They're telling Sens. McCain and Obama that mere lip service to this moral issue just won't do.

Nine prominent faith leaders who lead organizations representing millions of people, inspired by their shared values, sent a letter to both presidential campaigns asking that each nominating convention include a primetime speech on poverty and each candidate deliver a plan "to address poverty and opportunity in America over the next decade."

The letter recognizes that the government and faith communities must work together to turn the tide:

As people of faith, we believe that it is immoral to ignore our nation’s most vulnerable populations. As Americans, we believe enduring poverty undermines our country’s economic strength and prosperity. Every day, faith organizations serve individuals in need within our communities. But our efforts to sustain our brothers and sisters living in poverty must be complemented with a serious plan from our political leaders to reduce the number of needy.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the interfaith community will be mobilizing our networks and starting a national conversation in churches, synagogues, and mosques--in the shelters and soup kitchens of our faith-based service providers, and among people of faith across our great nation. We will be drawing from our shared scriptures and commitment to our fellow beings, working to build the political and public will to combat poverty in the United States. We hope you will do the same from the podium at your party’s convention this summer.

Posted by adanielsen at 05:30 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

How many different ways can it be said? The American people care about poverty.

Yesterday, Politico's Alexander Burns cited several recent polls that present two pieces of good news to those who see economic injustice as a national priority.

First, we are hearing more about poverty. Comparing 2007 with 2003 ("the last pre-presidential year"), Spotlight on Poverty shows 145% increase in coverage of, as Burns writes, "poverty as a political issue."

What's even better news is that the public still wants more. In Spotlight on Poverty's newest poll, 56% of those surveyed said the media has failed to devote enough time to poverty in the current presidential campaign. Burns quotes Tom Freedman, of SOP and a former White House aide:

“The poll tends to show that the political conventional wisdom that voters don’t care about this issue is wrong."

Burns writes:

Freedman sees several possible explanations for the uptick in public interest, and in media coverage. Presidential candidates have been talking more about the issue. Evangelicals have gotten more engaged with anti-poverty activism. And with the “economy tightening,” Freedman said, it makes sense that voters would want to hear more about anti-poverty policies.

And poverty is not just a progressive issue, Freedman and fellow analyst John Bridgeland say. From the Politico:

“Even among Republicans and Democrats, the answers were similar,” they wrote. “A majority of each felt there hadn’t been [an] adequate amount of time spent on the topic.”

That Americans are engaging this issue isn't a well-kept secret. In addition to these polls, the recent Pew study showed that a majority of Americans, across all religious groups, want the government to do more for the needy. After Super Tuesday, Faith in Public Life polls from Missouri and Tennessee showed that evangelical voters of both parties want a broad agenda that includes "ending poverty."

What, then, should we think when religious or political leaders ignore poverty and argue that the "people" really want to talk about wedge issues like abortion or same-sex marriage? Is it simply ignorance? Or a deliberate move to sweep a deeply important issue under the rug to advance their own agenda? Whatever the case, these polls show that neglecting poverty is neglecting the will of the people.

Posted by adanielsen at 12:56 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

Thought (and hopefully action)-provoking stuff from Michael Gerson's op-ed in today's Washington Post, "A Week of Hunger". With clarity and punch, he argues for the expansion of food stamps as a moral imperative and "the most direct way to reduce hunger in America."

His approach is so uncomplicated it should be obvious and so direct it seems revolutionary. There is a 10 million person gap between those who receive food stamps and those who need them, he says, and because of computer records, "we also know that most benefits are used up by the third week of the month, leaving many families to scramble for other sources of food."

Making both a fiscal and moral case for expansion:

Hunger exacts a social cost. Hungry adults miss more work and consume more health care. Hungry children tend to be sicker, absent from school more often and more prone to getting into more trouble. Larry Brown of the Harvard School of Public Health calculates that the total price tag of hunger to American society is about $90 billion a year. In contrast, Brown estimates it would only cost about $10 billion to $12 billion a year to "virtually end hunger in our nation."

And this raises a moral issue. We have in place an automated food stamp program that is generally efficient and effective. We know it could be expanded with little increase in overhead. And we know with precision when its benefit runs out each month. So how is it then possible to justify funding three weeks of food instead of four? What additional dependence, what added moral hazard could a full month of eating possibly create?

It's heartening to see someone in Gerson's position---a member of the mainstream media and a conservative, no less---advocating for an issue usually championed by progressives. In doing so, he manages to break stereotypes and show the bridges being built around this moral issue. This is the straightforward, cooperative dialogue we need to foster common good politics.

Posted by adanielsen at 01:36 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Only one day until the Compassion Forum. Already the pundits are opining about what this means for Americans of faith and the presidential candidates. It was not long ago that the media mostly treated the GOP as more Christian than Democrats, and forgot to talk about the interfaith diversity of the American public.

"We want to determine the Republicans' interest in addressing the needs of the vulnerable," said Joel Hunter, an influential Florida mega-pastor who supported Mike Huckabee when the Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor made his populist but failed bid for the Republican nomination.

"We also want to gauge the Democrats' interest in community and faith-based solutions and not just handing it all off to the government," said Hunter, who will also be at the event.

One of the hottest of the issues that bridge left and right, public and private sector, is domestic and international poverty. As many people have been pointing out of late, U.S. budgets are moral documents, showing our priorities. About 36.5 million Americans live in poverty and this lack of basic resources results in an even larger drain on all American well-being. By failing to address the private and public causes trapping every tenth American, the problem only infects the surrounding culture, from health care, schooling, work force to crime. This presentation was sponsored by the Catholic Campaigh for Human Development

But this extends beyond American. Islamic Relief reports that in developing countries a high percentage of the population lives in rural areas, making a living from agriculture. When floods and drought lead to crop shortages, thousands of people and animals die in the famine that follows. The death of livestock and harvest failure deprives these people of their only source of income. They aim to make a lasting difference in the lives of the poor by building the capacity of local communities to sustain themselves. IR provides training and Islamically acceptable loans enabling people to earn a better living, either by running small businesses or by seeking well-paid employment.

But beyond micro-credit and relief, Brian Swarts, of the Jubilee USA campaign writes:

The world's most impoverished countries pay more than $100 million each day in debt payments to wealthy governments and financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. In countries where the majority of the population lives on less than $1 per day, this money should be spent on clean water, basic health care, and education rather than repaying some of the world's wealthiest financial institutions.

The faith community has a history of moral leadership on the debt issue. In 2000 and again in 2005, world leaders came together to cancel billions of dollars of debt in dozens of impoverished countries around the world. The money freed by debt cancellation has been directed to fight global AIDS, enroll children in school, provide clean water, and improve rural infrastructure among other poverty-focused initiatives. But there is still much more that needs to be done -- 44 impoverished countries around the world are still waiting for debt justice!

Compassion Forum question: What do you think the primary causes of persistent poverty in America are? Is it possible to entirely eradicate it? What respective roles should government, the faith community and the private sector play in ending poverty?

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 01:59 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Our friends at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy are making progress in their fight against predatory lending practices in Virginia. Here's an update I received, this week, from Ann Rasmussen, VICPP’s Policy Director:

Despite strong opposition from the payday lending industry...a bill was passed with strong reform measures that we believe will help break the cycle of debt caused by payday lending. Central to this proposal are 1) a limit of one loan at a time industry-wide (so people can't hop from lender to lender taking out numerous loans), 2) a limit of 5 loans a year, and 3) a longer loan term that is two times the pay cycle of the borrower. This compromise reform is not as simple and easy as a straight 36% cap, but the measures are real reform that protect against the current lending practice of encouraging repeat borrowing that traps people into debt.

This bill could offer real, positive change if passed by the legislature. Calling all FPL readers in Virginia - now is the time to join VICPP's Faithful Pledge Campaign!

Posted by Leigh Ann at 11:54 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (2)

Yesterday, the House passed H. Con. Res. 198 which expressed "the sense of Congress that the United States has a moral responsibility to meet the needs of those persons, groups and communities that are impoverished, disadvantaged or otherwise in poverty."

Now, as Congressional resolutions are non-binding, and many can border on the absurd, it might be easy to dismiss this move as an empty gesture. Of course, only time will tell if Congress will be able to move beyond disappointing gridlock of this last session, but I am optimistic.

The resolution was based on recommendations from the Center for American Progress' Task Force on Poverty so there's a good deal of intellectual heft coupled with the idealistic goal. And perhaps most importantly, the faith community is ready to rally behind this cause. Poverty is a top concern for people of faith of all stripes. No other theme is as common in Scripture as society's responsibility to care for the poor and people of faith have been calling for our government to heed this moral call for decades.

Hopefully this resolution represents the beginning of the last chapter of a great movement. People of faith have made fighting poverty a moral priority, and the House has just formally signaled its agreement with that framework. Now, let's all do our part to make sure Congress follows through on that promise--37 million Americans living in poverty shouldn't have to wait any longer.

Posted by Beth Dahlman at 06:55 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Earlier this week I joined the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy's (VICPP) Annual "Day for All People" Advocacy Event at the state capitol in Richmond. It drew over 300 attendees and coalition partners including members of the Virginia Organizing Project, The NAACP, and the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations to the statehouse to advocate for policies protecting poor and vulnerable families. Their top priority this year is ending predatory payday lending, which can overwhelm already-struggling borrowers with insurmountable debt by charging over 300 percent interest. These loans are often a one-way ticket from vulnerability to poverty.

We spent part of the day with senate and house leaders to discuss payday lending legislation capping interest rates at 36 percent. While escorting my group through the capitol, VICPP's Rev. Doug Smith, pointed out a table in the cafeteria full of lobbyists and lawyers working to protect the payday lenders from the legislation that would prevent them from squeezing borrowers out of their bottom dollars. The industry has plenty of money and resources to throw at legislators, so VICPP's effort to rally bi-partisan support for payday lending regulation is as necessary as it is admirable. Gov. Tim Kaine, whose successful election campaign last year included a strongly faith-based message, spoke at the event and supports regulating payday lenders. Hopefully this broad coalition of religious activists and leaders can win this fight to protect the poor from predators.

To offer your support, check out their "Faithful Pledge" Campaign.

Posted by Leigh Ann at 03:02 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Several foundations (including the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Eos Foundation) recently launched the Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Initiative. This resource aids citizens in “engaging presidential, congressional and local candidates in substantive discussions about poverty.” Check out the website for poverty-related research, news and campaign coverage, and statements from the presidential candidates.

(h/t JSpot.)

Posted by Leigh Ann at 02:09 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The One Campaign just launched “On the Record”, an online resource that compares presidential candidates' positions on global poverty and health issues. The interactive website allows you to view a taped video response by each candidate, and compare their policy proposals to The One Campaign's positions.

Click here to see your favorites stack up.

Posted by Leigh Ann at 02:58 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (1)

Recently discussion of the common good has sprung up in the MSM and the blogosphere. While the term is often traced back to Catholic social teaching and increasingly framed politically, as Sr. Marianne Farina and Br. Rauf Adil point out, the common good is also universal and very real. (1:25)

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 07:10 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Today the AP reported a John Hopkins study that found 12 percent of America's high schools 'dropout factories' that graduate less than 60 percent of students who enter as freshmen. And according to the report,

The highest concentration of dropout factories is in large cities or high-poverty rural areas in the South and Southwest. Most have high proportions of minority students. These schools are tougher to turn around, because their students face challenges well beyond the academic ones — the need to work as well as go to school, for example, or a need for social services.

Aaron at Faithfully Liberal offers a personal testimony from his experience in a 'dropout factory,' and I'd like to add my own. In 2001, I taught 110 seventh graders in a rural school that was 90 percent African American and 50 percent impoverished. When I returned for their graduation this spring, about 65 kids crossed the stage. The kids who dropped out are effectively locked in poverty, and most of the graduates are academically far behind their peers in more affluent districts, which restricts their opportunities as well. Simply put, America's education system contributes to the trap of concentrated poverty, and that is a moral scandal in a country that prides itself as a land of opportunity filled with people of deep faith.

No Child Left Behind created as many problems as it solved at my school, and vouchers would have done no good because there's only one private school nearby, and it's all white (actually, there are many other reasons vouchers wouldn't work). But what's missing isn't just the right policy fix, it's the sense of urgency. If Americans cared more about poor kids, we'd have taken much more drastic action by now. After all, this problem has been with us in some form or another since the country was founded.

When I was in Teach For America, we talked often about long-term goals, and the most eloquent one I ever heard was that one day we would look back at America's separate, unequal education system as a thing of the past and ask ourselves as a society, "how did we ever let that happen?" To that I'd add "..and may God forgive us."

Posted by Dan at 11:27 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

While the Frost family dominated many conservative minds and Ann Coulter offended everyone else, the folks at Jubilee USA drew a successful forty-day focus on debt relief to a close. And incredibly Rev. David Duncombe participated for the entire Cancel Debt Fast. That's right he fasted for 40 day and 40 nights. Here's video of Rev. Duncombe talking about the experience about sixteen days into it.

Yesterday, due to Jubilee USA's six week lobby efforts, Representatives Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO), also did a one day fast in support of debt canceling legislation. During the 40 day fast, the Jubilee Act for Expanded Debt Cancellation and Responsible Lending got 20 additional congressional sponsors to:

* Cancel the debts of up to 26 additional nations not currently eligible for debt cancellation, provided that they demonstrate plans to spend the money wisely on poverty reduction; * Cut harmful requirements that are delaying access to life-saving debt relief for countries like Haiti and Liberia; * Call on the Treasury Secretary to address the challenges presented by so-called vulture funds, one of which recently extracted $15 million from impoverished Zambia; and * Establish policies for responsible lending to avoid odious and unjust debt accumulation in the future, beginning with an audit of past odious debts by the Government Accountability Office.

All Africa.com picked up the press release.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 10:27 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (4)

Beyond the recent debate over the third party threats of the religious right, there exist some subtle and long-term changes affecting evangelical Christianity. Here are two examples on poverty/urban sprawl as well as homosexuality.

Justice in the Burbs

And Zack, of Revolution in Jesusland, recently attended an evangelical leadership conference. It appears more and more religious leaders might be waking up to the fact that constructive engagement with homosexuals is a moral value -- and a church growth value too.

. . .one thing really stood out, and subtly became the main focus of the evening forum. Apparently, all the anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives and other anti-gay campaigning have really been ravaging the perception of Christianity among the general public, and even among young Christians. He [Dave, of the Barna research group] showed one graph that showed favorability ratings over the past several decades for gays shooting up from low single digits to 33% today. (That might have been just among young people, I can’t remember.)

Meanwhile, right along with that, the favorability rating for “evangelicals” among the same group plummeted from high numbers to 3%! David didn’t argue for a direct correlation between those two numbers. But he talked about how today most young people know openly gay people, and they are having a hard time reconciling what their church says and their valued relationships.

Pastor Dan has more, as usual. . .

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 12:59 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The majority of the faith community has been both active and unified on the need to reauthorized S-CHIP funding for poor children. But apparently this Word -- whatever you do unto the least of these, you do to me -- is not the same Word that enters Bush's ears, especially when Big Tobacco is threatened by a 45 to 61 penny tax.

The Carpetbagger Report distills the central issue of how politics trump principles and good policy again.

At yesterday’s White House press conference, the president kept things unusually brief, answering questions for 30 minutes, during which he avoided practically anything of substance. It prompted Dana Milbank to speculate as to why Bush even gathered reporters in the first place.The answer is pretty simple: Bush called a press conference in order to read a lengthy opening statement about S-CHIP. The White House seems to think the president is going to get slammed on this issue, and this was something of a preemptive strike.

The situation is breathtaking. Bush opposes a bipartisan bill on children’s healthcare because it offers too much help to kids who lack insurance. Republican lawmakers want the bill, Republican governors want the bill, American families want the bill, medical professionals want the bill, and congressional Dems are desperate to pass the bill. Bush has not only vowed to veto, he’s arguing that Congress is "putting health coverage for poor children at risk."

Even GOP partisans are calling the president on his lies. First, there was Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Hatch, who helped negotiate the compromise, said it is flatly untrue that the bill would cover children in households with incomes of as much as $83,000. A recent Urban Institute analysis found that 70 percent of the children who would gain or retain coverage under the Senate bill, which resembles the compromise, are in households with incomes below twice the poverty level, or $41,300 for a family of four.

“We’re talking about kids who basically don’t have coverage,” Hatch said. “I think the president’s had some pretty bad advice on this.”

It looks like Bush isn't the only one standing firm to put Big Tobacco ahead of children. Wide-stance Sen. Craig is his domestic (issue) partner on this.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 03:31 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Looking for good news? Proof that caring about the world pays off in actual lives bettered. . .

The United Nations Children's Fund reports that: "For the first time since record keeping began in 1960, the number of deaths of young children around the world has fallen below 10 million a year." In 1960, 20 million young children died, now that number is 9.7 million, which shows that there is still plenty of work to do.

What's making the difference? Education on how to avoid diseases such as malaria and measles, and stronger economies, especially in China and India. Africa still lags the rest of the world, especially in the south and war-torn countries like Sierra Leone and Congo.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 02:58 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The Census Bureau’s annual social and economic data report on income, poverty and health insurance came out today, bringing mixed news about Americans’ unmet needs. On the plus side, the poverty rate fell from 12.6 percent to 12.3 percent -- 490,000 fewer people living in poverty. On the minus side, the poverty rate was still 12.3 percent, or 36,460,000 people.

One thing that often gets lost when we talk about poverty is the human face of it. Poverty is not a percentage. It’s a little girl who goes to school when she’s sick because she needs the free lunch. It’s a father who knocks on a neighbor’s door to ask for food for his children. It’s a family of four living in a tiny, noxious FEMA trailer that bakes in the sun and trembles in the wind. It’s a daily state of privation and insecurity endured by 36.5 million Americans, and the fact that we accept it is a serious moral issue. The decline in poverty is good news for 490,000 people, but that is dwarfed by the bad news of 36.5 million people still unable to meet their needs. We need to remember that when we order our political priorities.

PS, the adequacy of the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold isn’t something to be taken as valid on its face, but that’s a topic for another post.

Posted by Dan at 04:13 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (3)

The ONE Campaign just released some exciting polling numbers on the values of New Hampshire voters coming into the 2008 elections. The bottom line: Democrats and Republicans support candidates who make fighting poverty a priority.

The full polling memo can be found here.

Especially interesting is the values language that resonated with voters across the political spectrum:

Democrats and Republicans agree that America has a moral obligation as a compassionate nation to help the world’s poorest people through foreign assistance. More than nine in ten Democrats (93%) and 84% of Republicans agree that when millions of children around the world are dying from preventable diseases and hunger, we have a moral obligation to do what we can to help. Similarly, Democrats (90%) and Republicans (85%) agree that it is in keeping with the country’s values and our history of compassion to lead an effort to solve some of the most serious problems facing the world’s poorest people.

This is more evidence of a trend FPL has been tracking for some time: the "values voter" isn't necessarily the anti-abortion anti-gay marriage activist we heard so much about in 2004, but someone who is concerned about "compassion issues" such as poverty.

Organizations like ONE Vote will be working hard to make sure these issues--and creative approaches to addressing them-- take center stage in campaign 2008. Clearly, the citizens of New Hampshire are willing to speak out on this issue; lets all hope that the candidates listen.

Posted by Beth Dahlman at 02:38 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Continue reading "Minimum wage jumps 70 cents" »

Posted by Dan at 11:40 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

Last year, over 5000 Houston janitors signed up with the SEIU, the Service Employee's International Union, to press for living wages and benefits that at least match those found in other states. They named their cause "Justice for Janitors," and they called a strike just this week to fight for a living wage. But joining a union is a risky move for someone in a low-skill job when your entire livelihood is on the line and your employer has little incentive to change.

According to the AFL-CIO blog: Faith groups have become vital voices in the effort to educate their communities about the problems of worker when they try to form a union to bargain for a better life.

For example, Interfaith Worker Justice Executive Director Kim Bobo has written an article in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act that will appear in two influential national religious magazines—The Christian Century and Sojourners. IWJ also is preparing to release an updated version of its popular “Why Do Unions Matter?”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act in March. The bill, S. 1041, is now pending in the Senate. If it is enacted, the act would restore balance to the system of forming unions and bargaining. Under current labor law, the employer gets to decide whether workers can form their union through either ballot elections or majority sign-up. The Employee Free Choice Act changes it so that workers get to make that choice. The legislation also creates real penalties for employers who illegally interfere with organizing efforts and sets up a system to ensure that workers get a first contract even if their employers refuse to bargain in good faith.

JSpot notes that the Employee Free Choice Act comes up to the Senate on Monday and could get a vote by Wednesday. According to the Jewish Funds for Justice, this is one of the best ways for poor workers to list themselves out of poverty. Take action here. .

Interfaith Worker Justice has new resources for clergy to preach labor awareness.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 06:13 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill (RWG) is a coalition of sixteen Churches and faith-based organizations: Bread for the World, Church World Service, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office, United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries, United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, Lutheran World Relief, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, NETWORK, Progressive National Baptist Convention, and Together For Hope: The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Rural Poverty Initiative.

The reason that such a massive coalition formed is because 2007 represents a critical moment in U.S. agricultural policy.

But perhaps you're not a farmer, so how does the farm bill affect you?

Daniel Imhoff is a writer and researcher on issues related to food, the environment, and design. He is the author of numerous articles, essays, and books including Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World (Watershed Media/Sierra Club Books 2005); Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches (Watershed Media/Sierra Club Books 2003).

The group is also urging Congress to address the negative impact current U.S. agricultural and trade policies have on people living in impoverished countries around the world. . .

Church World Service and Oxfam America is especially concerned about recent unprecedented levels of market consolidation in agriculture which make competition unfair and leads to greater poverty in the U.S. and in the developing world. Production controlled by a limited number of corporate interests eliminates market transparency and creates an environment ripe for price manipulation and discrimination. It creates an atmosphere where supply and demand are controlled by the same actors. To remedy this problem, CWS recommends that stronger competition policies with reliable enforcement mechanisms are included in the 2007 Farm Bill

Learn more here.

Posted by Alex Carpenter at 12:42 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (2)

Teaming with 53 partners as national as Working Assets and as local as Rev. Heyward Wiggins of Camden Churches Organized for People (in pic), the mega-organizers of PICO have launched a campaign to Cover All Children.

They write: "PICO, a national network of one thousand religious congregations and schools in 150 cities and 18 states, has been working on a step-by-step campaign to expand access to health care to uninsured children. This is part of the campaign for SCHIP reauthorization. SCHIP is a lifeline for 6 million children whose parents cannot obtain family coverage at work. Already PICO federations in California have helped develop county-level programs to cover all children in half the counties in California."

PICO's Road Map for Covering all Children as part of SCHIP reauthorization includes enough funding to protect children now enrolled, without putting Medicaid at-risk; incentives for states to expand eligibility and reach out to eligible children; support for innovative outreach programs; policies that cut red tape to increase enrolment among eligible children; and incentives to increase workplace coverage. All this by 2012.

And here's the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families which states: "SCHIP and Medicaid have been resoundingly successful in providing health care to children. Despite the success, more still needs to be done to cover the remaining 9 million children in America who are uninsured. The SCHIP Portal is a resource for those involved in the efforts to reauthorize SCHIP and finish the job of getting children covered."

Here's how people can get involved.

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Posted by Katie at 05:17 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

One idea we've had at FPL is to feature some particularly inspiring sermonizing on the site from time to time. In light of this morning's forum with Rev. Butler and Bishop Robinson, the following words seem especially fitting.

Father Matthew Ruhl, S.J., is the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Kansas City, MO. This homily is a discussion of Matthew 28: 18-20, a reading known as the Great Commission in which Jesus directs his disciples to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

This reading from the Gospel of Matthew is frequently referred to as the Great Commission. It’s great because Jesus asks us to do it, and great because it is much more radical than it seems at first glance. What makes it radical is that Jesus sends us out to all the nations. You see, after the Babylonian Exile when the Jews came back to Judah, they wanted to have the nation filled up again and all the prophets were saying there will come a time when Zion will be rebuilt, the hill within Jerusalem on which sat the Temple which had been destroyed. And so all these Jews, they were the good Jews, they were what they called the faithful remnant. They were so good they didn’t want anything to do with other Jews who hadn’t gone through this Exile. They were the elite of the elite. And it was they who wanted to rebuild the Temple with nobody’s help. They who wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. They who wanted to build the city of Jerusalem with nobody’s help. It would be the purified Judaism that did it and it would be this purified Judaism that would give birth to this new Davidic king and we were going to be so great that all the nations would come to us. They would come to our hilltop and they would see how great our God was. Whoops! It never happened.

Six hundred years later, here’s Jesus. There’s no kingdom. There’s no king. The Temple that was rebuilt was such a shadow of the former Temple that half of the population wept in embarrassment when they saw it. It just didn’t happen. And here comes Jesus and the early church and they said it’s not going to happen. You and I have to go out to the nations. You see, it is completely radical difference. It’s a completely radical way of understanding. We’re not going to sit here and wait for God to come and then for people to come to us. We’ve got to go out baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now, I think it’s quite honest and a good thing to say that Jesus was no idiot. He was sending the disciples out to countries and to the nations that they had been fighting with for about two thousand years—the Moabites, the Edomites, the Ammonites and all the other “ites,” not to mention the hated Samaritans. These people were at war with the Jews forever. And yet, Jesus sent his apostles out to all the world, even to the people who put him to death. Now, do you think that Jesus was so stupid that he didn’t know that there were going to be differences introduced into the church? And it was almost immediately. Almost as soon as Christ shows up, rises and goes away, people started saying to be a true Christian, you have to be circumcised. And Paul says whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! We have been not saved by the law. We are saved by the blood of Christ. And so circumcision was absolutely dropped as a requisite for being part of the church.

All right. When Jesus sends them out to the nations, he’s very aware that he’s sending them out into a group of people that are really different and, in fact, really sinful. And so this idea, St. Francis, that there could ever be a purified church or a faithful remnant is complete rubbish. The Catholic Church is for the hairy and the unwashed. It’s for sinners, and all sinners. There’s this radical inclusion. We’re all in this together. Okay. “Fr. Matt, where’s that said in the Bible?” Okay. Now, listen carefully. If there’s one sentence about one thing, then scripture scholars say, well, an editor probably slipped that in because he had a little axe to grind. Scholars, when they want to discover what Jesus really meant, they look for a thing called multiple attestation. That is to say it’s written several times, or the stories several times. Okay. Let me tell you what is multiply attested to in three parables—not one, not two, but three parables, all of which have the same message of radical inclusion.

In the first parable, Jesus says the world is like a great sea, and there are all these fishes. There are fishes that feed on the bottom. There are fishes that feed on the top. There are some fishes that aren’t fishes at all, but are mammals. There are some fishes that come out of the water for a little while and then go back in. There are all these fishes. And they all live together happily, except they eat one another every now and again. But they’re all given permission to live. And at the end of time, the Kingdom of Heaven will be like a great dragnet dragging all this sea life to shore.

And guess who gets to separate the good fishes from the bad fishes? No pope, no bishop, no priest, no pastor, no lay man, no lay woman, no lay movement. Who gets to separate the good fish from the bad fish? God, and God alone, gets to separate the fish.

And then there’s another story. There’s the sheep and the goats. God said, Jesus says, you know, if you didn’t read the one on the dragnet, let me give you another one. There’s this huge pasture and there’s a bunch of sheep and a bunch of goats, and those sheep and the goats, they get to enjoy the sunshine and the water and they get to eat grass all day long. And you and I, we’re those sheep and goats, and they get to live happily. At the end of time, all the sheep and the goats will be brought together and they’ll be judged. And who gets to do the judging? No pope, no bishop, no pastor, no priest, no lay man, no lay woman, and no lay movement. Who gets to judge between the sheep and the goats? God, and God alone.

As if two parables weren’t enough, Jesus says I’m going to drive this point home to these guys. They’ve got to understand it. And so he gives us another parable. He said the whole world is like a wheat field. And the householder comes to the master and he says, Master, somebody sowed these seeds of weeds in with the wheat (NAB, St. Joseph edition, Matthew 13: 24-30). Should be go ahead and dig up the weeds? And the master says, no, you let them grow together. And that was Jesus’ way of saying our judgment, mine and your judgment, is so shabby we can’t tell a poisonous weed from a foodstuff. No. At the end of time, we’ll do a harvest. And when the harvest happens, I will separate the wheat from the weeds. And no pope, and no bishop, and priest, and no pastor, and lay man, and no lay woman, and no lay movement will have anything to say about it. The separation of the wheat from the weeds belongs to God, and God alone.

Let me read something to you. In case you’re thinking I’m putting my own spin on this, this is a Catholic Bible. It’s got a little love note from Paul VI at the beginning. And this is a footnote on the parable of the wheat and the weeds. “The refusal of the householder to allow his slaves to separate the wheat from the weeds while they were still growing is a warning to the disciples not to attempt to anticipate the final judgment of God by a definitive exclusion of sinners from the kingdom. In its present stage, it is composed of the good and the bad. The judgment of God alone will eliminate the sinful.”

In short, St. Francis, the world is a sea, it’s a pasture, it’s a field, and the good and the bad and the ugly and the indifferent and the ambiguous, we all get to live together in the ocean, on the field, on the pasture. And if you and I start excluding people, pretty soon the Church is going to be the First Church of You and Me, and I’m a little suspicious of you. But the Church in this country is famous for excluding. Every time I see a black Catholic I praise God, because that is the only group of immigrants that the Catholic Church never conscientiously went out to try to evangelize. There was a great exclusion. And I have a friend in St. Louis. She’s only my age and they didn’t want her to go to the Catholic school because she was epileptic. And epilepsy, of course, was a sign of possession. And we had a most sorrowful instance across the state line -- St. Agnes, when the young man, Nadeau, got kicked out of celebrating in that church for no reason other than he was gay. He was by all accounts a Christian, full of the spirit, but because he was gay, he was denied his opportunity to express his love for the Church in a fashion that the Holy Spirit had called him to.

St. Francis, this kind of exclusion has no place in the Catholic Church. This kind of bigotry has no place in the life of Christ. This kind of hate has no place in the Christian ethic. If you want to go out and baptize the nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and promote this kind of exclusion, please stay home. The world is filled with enough hate already. But if you want to go out to the nations baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, then please preach the Gospel and preach the whole gospel. Please preach a radical inclusion as Jesus Christ did. Go out, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, but preach about Christ, who is about love. Who loves us all -- the good, the bad, the black, the white, the straight, the gay, the short, the tall, the fat, the skinny, the sinner, the saint -- loves them all equally.

If you can’t preach that, stay home. If you can, go on out, because the world needs you.

Posted by David Buckley at 04:27 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (0)

With last week's New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling, the Religious Right has once again tried to trump up voter fears with the specter of gay marriage destroying the traditional American family. This strategy has worked in the past, although the latest poll numbers from CBS show that Democrats enjoy an ADVANTAGE among evangelicals right now.

This morning at the Center for American Progress, FPL Executive Director Jennifer Butler moderated a discussion with Bishop Gene Robinson. Most remember Bishop Robinson's election as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and the strife that has ensued within the Anglican communion since then. Check out CAP's website for video of this very interesting event. The Bishop's remarks were notable for both their wisdom and charity (even to those with whom he disagrees), two virtues that are rare in our public discourse.

Posted by David Buckley at 03:57 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (8)

It's an exciting time to be a blogger interested in faith and progressive politics. There are more of us every day (we'll be featuring some of the best here at FPL), and national leaders in our community are becoming more and more aware of how important blogs can be in spreading the good news about their work. With all that energy in the cyber-air, it's almost providential that we get to announce that the first ever Progressive Faith Blog Con is on its way.

The Blog Con will take place from July 14-16 in Montclair, NJ (just outside of New York). It's the brain-child of some of the best minds in our corner of the blogosphere, and will feature Velveteen Rabbi, Mainstream Baptist, Chuck Currie, Pastor Dan of Street Prophets, XPatriated Texan, Talk to Action, Philocrites, CrossLeft, JSpot, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, and many, many more. Check out the site for more details on attending. You won't want to miss it! The buzz about the event is already building here, here, here, here, and, well, you get the point.

We at FPL are thrilled to be working on this, and will be sure to keep you all up to date as the calendar ticks down to July 14. Register now (space is limited!), spread the good word on your blogs, and make sure you're there for this landmark event.

Posted by David Buckley at 05:08 PM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (3)

Welcome to Faith in Public Life’s corner of the blogosphere! We’re glad to join the hundreds of bloggers out there in this growing and exciting community. Like any responsible new neighbor, we’ll try to make a good first impression, keep the yard looking tidy, and not make TOO much noise.

As you’ve hopefully noticed from the rest of this website, Faith in Public Life isn’t a normal organization. We exist as a resource center for faith communities working for justice and the common good. When we do our jobs right, we provide faith leaders and community members with the tools they need to more effectively carry out their work. When our partners win, we win, so to speak.

In keeping with this mission, this blog won’t be entirely normal either. We’ll feature our share of staff-written content on current events at the intersection of religion and politics, but we’ll spend most of our time featuring the best work of others, in an attempt to build up the strongest voices for justice and the common good in our community.

What does it mean to use a blog to provide resources to the community? We’ll frequently feature cross posts from bloggers whose voices add to the national debate on faith in politics. We’ll have guest blogs from our board members and partners who don’t maintain regular blogs but who are excited by the chance to engage in conversations with this community. We’ll put together a weekly highlight reel of the most interesting posts from far and wide in the faith blogosphere. And we’ll use the blog to post audio and video clips of our partners making an impact in mainstream media outlets.

We hope that this blog can play a role in building up this exciting community. Leave comments, tell us all what you think, and spread the word about Faith in Public Life as a resource center for bloggers who care about faith, justice, and the common good.

Posted by David Buckley at 08:57 AM | Link | del.icio.us | Digg | Comments (4)