Monday, Monday: Links for 5/14/12

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mamas out there.  Since very few of them are likely reading this blog, go ahead and pass along our best wishes to your mother, when you get the chance.  No, that wasn't a backhanded joke.  Here at Conflict Revolution, we're nothing if not genuine.

No one would ever confuse Monday with Sunday, glorious bastion of the fun day.  Still, here's hoping you got a little bit of rest last night, so that the 9:00 hour isn't treating you too terribly.  Or who knows, maybe you're just waking up.

Stephen has gone fishin' for the day (when your office is in Tampa, FL, you do business in weird places), so in a break from our normal routine, you get a left-leaning start to your work week.  Whether you're just getting to your desk, just waking up, or have no plans to do anything at all today, dive into some CR morning links to get your Monday started off right:

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1) The New York Times explores our generation's big, ugly sleeping giant of student loan debt in an ongoing series.  Something should probably be done about this - but what?  ["A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College," NYT, 5/12/12].

Also see: Should Higher Education Be Free? 

2) Liberal Catholic E.J. Dionne takes the Freedom From Religion Foundation to task for targeting liberal Catholics in a new ad, but reserves some harsh words for the conservative wing of the Church as well.  As a liberal, intermittent church-going Catholic myself, I can attest to often feeling like I'm stuck between an ecclesiastical rock (the Church's hard-line position on social issues) and an ideological hard place (the outright skepticism - if not open hostility - of many on the left toward organized religion).  Dionne navigates this contradiction well, showing that ultimately, neither side is well-served by constantly being at each other's throats... sadly, these sorts of narratives are beginning to sound depressingly familiar ["I'm not quitting the Church," Washington Post, 5/14/12].

Also see: Just When You Thought the Culture Wars Were Over...

3) Are billionaire dual citizens choosing to give up their US citizenship in order to avoid paying higher taxes?  Will this factor into a broader case for overall tax reform, or just convince more on the Right to advocate for deeper cuts on existing rates?  ["Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO," Bloomberg, 5/11/12].

4) Speaking of the Right, leading the House of Representatives into the ideological abyss wasn't enough for the Tea Party, so they've now got their sights set on the Senate ["For Tea Party, Focus Turns to Senate and Shake-Up," NYT, 5/13/12].

5) Finally, the latest presidential tracking polls continue to show a close race - Rasmussen has Romney with 48% of the vote to Obama's 44%, while Gallup shows Obama with a 1 point advantage (46% - 45%) [Real Clear Politics Poll Average, 5/12/12].

Pop, lock and drop Conflict Revolution into your Bookmarks Toolbar for more updates later in the day, when we'll post Part II of Stephen's and my ongoing debate on the current state of the U.S. economy.

Stay dry out there, folks.