The incredible shrinking deficit
National Review Online has an article today that shows how the deficit is currently projected to shrink away to nothing by 2011, and return to surpluses in 2012 and beyond. They make the point that earlier this year, CBO projected a whopping $450B deficit for FY03. In the data that NRO uses in its article, CBO had revised that figure downward to about $400B, a better than 10% swing in just a few months.

Even that data is apparently out of date. In the latest CBO Budget Review, the preliminary figures for the just-ended fiscal year come in at $374B, a further decrease of $27 billion.

Just another sign that the economy is picking up steam, as the government collects more tax revenue than it expected just a few months ago..
- posted by Doug @ 4:38 PM    Comment

 
Anglican leaders warn ECUSA
The leaders of the Anglican Communion have decided to warn the Episcopal Church USA not to consecrate Canon Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

Here is the text of the Primates' joint statement.

The footnote at the end is interesting:

In view of the very grave difficulties encountered in the internal
affairs of some provinces of the Communion, [this conference] invites
the Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a commission to make
recommendations to the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council,
as to the exceptional circumstances and conditions under which, and the
means by which, it would be appropriate for him to exercise an
extraordinary ministry of episcope (pastoral oversight), support and
reconciliation with regard to the internal affairs of a province other
than his own for the sake of maintaining communion with the said
province and between the said province and the rest of the Anglican
Communion.

I think this is an attempt to keep the conservative Episcopalians in communion by affording them the opportunity to have a special extra bishop if they find their own too liberal. I don't know how that would work, though. Any Anglicans care to enlighten me?
- posted by Doug @ 2:41 PM    Comment

 
Happy 25th, Karol Wojtyla
He's now been Pope John Paul II for 25 years.
- posted by Doug @ 2:27 PM    Comment

 
Great line
In a post about presidential elections in the US, Steven Den Beste has a great one-liner: "We have to take candidates as packages, and can't really pick and choose features to create a best-of-breed candidate (i.e. Clinton's charisma combined with Dole's erectile dysfunction)." :)
- posted by Doug @ 9:12 AM    Comment

 
Anglican roundup
Lots of news as the 38 heads of the various Anglican Churches prepare to meet in London. First some background, from TIME and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Also, see these stories that provide an English and Australian perspective.

These articles explore Abp. Williams' proposed actions. Apparently, he's expected to set aside his own more liberal beliefs and side with the conservative side of the Communion (Woohoo!) in order to try to prevent a schism. In the end, this may not be possible, and he may have to choose between the wealthy American Episcopal Church, and the only part of the Communion that's actually growing -- the various Third World Churches.

Finally, there are some interesting tidbits in this story from The Washington Times. First, an organization called the Gay and Lesbian Christian Movement, while decrying the conservatives as being "right-wing neo-fascist American capitalists", tried to get the British government to block the conservative Archbishop of Nigeria from attending this week's conference. They claimed that he might "incite hatred against homosexuals". (This is a serious crime in England, where speech is no longer free -- but that's a subject for a different post another day) In response, the government of Nigeria granted him a diplomatic passport, which guarantees he can enter Great Britain at will, unless they declare him 'persona non grata' (generally only done with spies and the like).

In another tidbit from the same story, there is this interesting quote:

"It's hard for an Anglican leader to go against the pope," says the Rev. Timothy Bradshaw, theology professor at Regents College here. The Vatican warnings "will be a strong factor in favor of the conservatives. We're supposed to be sister churches with the Catholics and the Orthodox, and this will break relations in a major way." (Emphasis added.)

Somewhere, St. Thomas More is smiling.
- posted by Doug @ 12:05 PM    Comment