Ryan Tells Anti-Abortion Advocates To Broaden Their Reach

ABC OTUS NEWS
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called for anti-abortion rights advocates to reach out to pro-abortion rights advocates Thursday evening, making him the latest Republican to urge like-minded voters to be open to a group not traditionally viewed as conservative.
     "To advance the pro-life cause, we need to work with people who consider themselves pro-choice, because our task isn't to purge our ranks. It's to grow them," Ryan said at a D.C. gala for the Susan B. Anthony List, a political action committee that helps anti-abortion candidates get elected to Congress.
     The former GOP vice presidential nominee and current House Budget Committee chairman told those in the audience they needed to "expand our horizon" but urged them to "stay vigilant" and to work "with patience" and "with good cheer."
     "We don't want a country where abortion is simply outlawed," Ryan said. "We want a country where it isn't even considered."
     Ryan, a Catholic, said, as with many in the audience, that his anti-abortion views came from his religion but he said they "can't just make arguments based on faith. We also need to make arguments based on reason."  READ FULL ARTICLE

Urban League State of Black America

THE GRIO
This week the National Urban League released its 2013 State of Black America report, a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of where black and Latino Americans stand in relation to their white counterparts in the US.
     The report documents extraordinary gains in education even as it underscores inequities in employment that continue to be reflected in the income gaps that underwrite so many social factors, effectively detailed in the Equality Index, the National Urban League’s comprehensive model that accounts for education, health, civic engagement, social justice, and economics across race, taking into account age, region, and other factors.
     The report cites important gains in educational attainment in the last 50 years spurred by Civil Rights activism and legislation as well as Affirmative Action policies. For example, in 2013 there are 3-4 times as many black students enrolled in college as there were in 1963.
     While this kind of educational progress is important, the NUL’s president, Marc Morial, spoke to theGrio, to provide some clarification and qualification of this data.
     “It is important to note that (educational) gains have been made overall in America,” said Morial. “There are more high school and college graduates overall because the economy demands a better educated worker.”    READ FULL ARTICLE