What I'm reading today in Catholic issues and Politics

Dan Gilgoff's USNEWS & World Report blog is a great place to keep up on news relating to religion and US politics, as I've written before.

There's a little kerfuffle today about Kathleen Sebelius appearing on ABC's This Week over the weekend and repeating Obama's promises about abortion funding not being in his health care reform.

Quick take: nothing to see here. The status quo hasn't changed - the current health care reform will fund abortion.

Gilgoff also has an interview with the most conservative member of Obama's faith council, who won't even rule out resigning because he feels he's so ineffective there.

(As an aside, Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest is being honored with a meeting attended by "Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes and White House Director for Public Liaison Tina Tchen, both of whom are strong abortion advocates" - strong abortion advocates, you know, like everyone in Obama's administration.)

At the end of this week I'll be attending the annual Values Voter summit, which Gilgoff describes this way:

Sure, the 2012 election is still a ways off, but the Christian right is about to begin flexing its muscle in the race, with a presidential straw poll scheduled for next week's big Values Voter Summit.

Spearheaded by Family Research Council Action, the summit has become the key annual get-together for conservative Christian activists. After splintering among a handful of candidates in the 2008 Republican primaries, from Mike Huckabee to Mitt Romney to Rudy Giuliani (that's right—Pat Robertson endorsed him) , some Christian right leaders are eager to consolidate movement support behind a single candidate in 2012.

Dan also has a poll for his readers, asking them which candidate they would support.

There is some chance that former congressman (Catholic) Rick Santorum will run for President in 2012.