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It's great to see David Beckmann convince Mark Bittman to join the fast against attempts to cut federal programs
that help the poor and the hungry. Bittman's dismissal of the religious element
of the effort by Bread for the World and others--"I doubt God will intervene
here"--betrays his unfamiliarity with Christian thought. (I'm tempted to send him
one of my ELCA "God's work, our hands" fridge magnets.) But thanks to Bittman's
involvement, now even the Nation is
giving the progressive evangelical effort positive coverage.

In mid-February, budget slashers in Congress
unexpectedly took
the ax to the U. S. Institute of Peace. Forty Democrats joined the
Republican majority in the House to cut off all funding for the USIP--a
potentially devastating blow to the bipartisan institute that was started under
President Reagan and funded mostly by Congress. It is up to the Senate to
salvage the work of this institute.