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A group of liberal Catholic academics, led by professors at Catholic University, have written a public letter to Catholic Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) calling for protection of social-welfare programs that they argue are mortally threatened by the current budget proposal.

The lead signatory, Professor Stephen Schneck, invokes the Gospel mandate to help the poor—to ensure that “the least of these” get assistance from the state, especially when private charity fails. (Actually, Schneck made the very valid charity point on “The O’Reilly Factor” on May 12, though the point is not made in the letter.)

Boehner that he can rest assured that the professors will be praying for him and his vocation in public life. Their sincerity falls flat in light of their earlier language.

Second, and more significant, the letters fails to demonstrate even a remote awareness of the utterly disastrous fiscal situation that America faces. We have a $1.6 trillion deficit—numbers absent from this letter. For a sense of perspective, George W. Bush, going into the final year of his presidency, had a record—repeat, record—deficit of $400 billion. That was awful enough, but the current deficit quadruples that record, blowing the previous astronomical figure to smithereens. The Obama presidency and Pelosi-Reid Democratic Congress that preceded Boehner dug that hole.

Our national debt is far higher still. America’s debt-to-GNP ratio is at Greece standards.

The effect of all this on our currency, economic growth, credit rating, and much more, is catastrophic. And critically important, this crisis is not the result of a lack of tax dollars. It has been generated by a federal government that spends money it doesn’t have at an obscene and flatly immoral rate, in ways that would be literally criminal if done by the private sector. The single greatest culprit for the current deficit was the incredibly wasteful and damaging $800-billion “stimulus package” passed by President Obama and the Democratic Congress in 2009.

Sadly, the letter from the liberal Catholics to Speaker Boehner mentions nothing of the responsibility of these players in this mess, nor does it offer any appreciation to Boehner for the thankless, difficult task he faces in trying to begin to fix their disaster. It’s like calling the parent “cruel”—a word the letter directs at Boehner—for trying to clean up the house and discipline the children after they’ve practically set it on fire.

Oklahoma  voters have approved a measure that would forbid judges from considering  international law or Islamic law when deciding cases.

The crowd itself included veterans, parents, disabled Americans, people of all ages and – contrary to some criticism leveled against the rally – attendees of many races and ethnicities.    

Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union based in Washington, D.C., for example, stood on the platform with Alveda King as she recalled her uncle Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I Have a Dream" speech.  

Before the multitudes assembled Alveda King proclaimed, "If Uncle Martin could be here today … he would surely remind us that as brothers and sisters, united by one blood in one single race, the human race, we are called to honor God and to love each other."  

Praising the entire rally, Gardner exclaimed, "It was phenomenal!  

"It felt great to be up there with all these wonderful leaders, the black pro-life leaders from all over the country," Gardner said. "I was extremely proud of my sister in Christ and my dear friend, Dr. Alveda King. … Seeing her walk out where her uncle and her father were 47 years ago – my eyes welled up, and I had a lump in my throat, because we have come a really long way."  

"I think it's made about 90 percent of the politicians in this city very nervous," Roever said. "Some of them are tremblin' in their offices right now because this is a statement – not only to D.C., but to the whole country – that we're not going to be satisfied with the status quo."   

Roever said he wants all politicians – from the president to lawmakers to activist judges – to know that many people are fed up like him:   

State parks, psychiatric hospitals and even turnpike toll booths could also be run by private operators, according to the 57-page report on privatization obtained by The Star-Ledger. Preschool classrooms would no longer be built at public expense, state employees would pay for parking and private vendors would dish out food, deliver health care and run education programs behind prison walls.

All told, the report says, New Jersey could save at least $210 million a year by delivering an array of services through private hands.

"The question has to be, ‘Why do you continue to operate in a manner that’s more costly and less effective?’ rather than, ‘Why change?’ " said Richard Zimmer, the former Republican congressman who chaired the task force.

Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher (WUR'-zuhl-bah-kur), who was hailed by Republican John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, has won one of nearly 400 seats on the local Republican Party committee in Ohio's Lucas County.

Democratic leaders insisted they planned to press ahead with health reform, and met late into Tuesday night in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. But they made no decisions about how to proceed, now that Brown has swept away the Democrats’ filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate.

 Their options are few, and extremely complex, mostly involving legislative tactics that would be difficult to pull off in the best of circumstances, let alone at a time when members are worried they could be the next Martha Coakley – a seeming Democratic shoo-in laid low, in part, by health reform.

Brown's late surge was fueled by voter anger about the high unemployment rate and by his vow to block the president's proposal for health-care reform. He drew chants of "41!" during his acceptance speech Tuesday night, symbolic of his role as the 41st member of the Senate GOP caucus. 

 "This Senate seat belongs to no one person, to no political party. . . . This is the people's seat," Brown said after an election that drew more than 2 million voters. It was the first U.S. Senate win for a Republican in Massachusetts since 1972.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) –  The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday got into a public dispute with the CIA over what she knew about harsh interrogation techniques in 2002, in the latest twist in a Washington political furor.

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding to a CIA report that said she had been briefed on interrogation methods that she now condemns but did not at the time, accused the CIA of not telling the truth at a dramatic Capitol Hill news conference.

 "The CIA was misleading the Congress," Pelosi said.