Are Conservative States Better Weathering the Storm?: The Morning Report

Note: I am traveling most of this week, but will do my best to maintain the blog schedule.

In the News

1.  Thanks, Moody’s.  That’s a great idea.

2.  Is it a coincidence that the states whose economies and whose state budgets are faring best have been under the leadership of conservatives?  As Walter Russell Mead noted in a typically incisive column recently:

The states where unemployment rates for African Americans are relatively low are states where not many African Americans live: Alaska (5.4 percent Black unemployment), Wyoming (6.2 percent), Idaho (8.0 percent), Hawaii (9.6 percent) and (at 10.3 percent) New Hampshire.  Except for Hawaii all are generally conservative, low-tax states.  The states with the highest unemployment rates for African Americans are staunchly blue: Wisconsin (25 percent), Michigan (23.9 percent), Minnesota (22 percent), Maine (21.4 percent) and Washington (21.4 percent).

3.  Casey Anthony emerges from prison, and vanishes.

In the Pews

1.  A surprisingly decent article from USA Today on the debate amongst churches and clergy over gay ordination.

2.  “Why Do Christian Denominations Have Such Difficulty Sharing a Common Story?”

3.  R. C. Sproul: “Does God Forgive and Forget?”  Sproul states the question: “Are my sins that I genuinely repent of remembered by God after my death or are they removed forever?”

BONUS: I recently interviewed Josh McDowell about his forthcoming book on sex.  The Christian Post has more.