government spending

Photo by Barbara Verge via Unsplash.

The Bible is unequivocal that we are to “honor” and even “revere” our mothers (Exodus 20:12 and Leviticus 19:3). While it’s a commitment that needs more attention than one Sunday each year, Mother’s Day provides a special day in which we should go out of our way to honor our mothers with words and acts of gratitude and love.

Tonight, Sojourners and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission are co-sponsoring an event to discuss religion and the 2012 elections. Rev. Wallis and Dr. Richard Land will delve into what they believe the religious issues will be and should be from now until election day.

The event is already turning some heads. A Washington Post article by Michelle Boorstein summed up the unique nature of the event in a headline, "Evangelical opposites to hold discussion on 2012 presidential race."

David Hilfiker 11-01-2011

Doomsday threats and Wall Street influence erode U.S. government for the people.

A new study says that might just be how it works, as long as the taxes are progressive. The study was conducted in 54 nations with over 59,000 respondents. The polling tracked the expressed well being of respondents and then checked for correlations in taxation systems. The end result? On average, those who lived in a country with a highly progressive tax system reported a higher level of quality of life, more positive daily experiences, and fewer negative ones. Overall, people are happier the more progressive their tax system is.

It's an academic paper and the authors don't jump to any political conclusions, but they do provide at least one plausible explanation. The study notes that simply increasing government spending does not increase overall happiness. But people are happier in countries with higher levels of progressive taxation because they are more satisfied with basic government services, such as quality of education and health care.

As the time shortens for Congress and President Obama to agree to the contours of legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling, I am reminded of the story of King Solomon and his judgment regarding two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child (I Kings 3: 16-28). Solomon ordered that the living child be cut in two and half a dead child be given to both women. The woman who was the true mother insisted that the living child be given to the false mother. She was willing to give up her righteous claim to save the child's life.

Duane Shank 1-27-2011
In Tuesday evening's generally well-received State of the Union speech, President Obama appealed to the center with talk of reducing the deficit and controlling federal spending.
On Friday, September 24, at 3 p.m. a violent and terrifying storm erupted over Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
What is the Tea Party position on war?

Jim Wallis 2-26-2010

Did you watch any of the health-care summit yesterday in Washington? Guess what? The Republicans and Democrats are divided and likely can't find any common ground.

Bryan Farrell 2-25-2010
On the one hand, as a new CNN poll shows, 11 percent of Americans i
Jim Wallis 1-28-2010
After one tumultuous year in office, President Barack Obama used his first State of the Union address
Bob Greenstein 10-26-2009
Voters in Maine and Washington state are being asked to vote this November on whether they want impose a rigid formula limit on state and local revenues and services.
LaVonne Neff 7-20-2009
I recently sent an e-mail about health care to my congressman, Peter Roskam (R-IL, 6th District), through his Web site.
Jim Wallis 3-26-2009

While watching President Obama's press conference Tuesday evening, I was struck by a few things that are often forgotten in the criticism of his proposed budget.