Inside the Beltway

SPIRITED RENDITION

Just in time for Christmas - and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, Festivus, Boxing Day or (insert holiday of choice here) - comes intriguing spiritual news: Politics and policy are not the only things that separate conservatives from liberals, Republicans from Democrats. There’s a partisan divide when it comes to the proverbial Great Beyond as well.

“Conservatives and Republicans report fewer experiences than liberals or Democrats communicating with the dead, seeing ghosts and consulting fortunetellers or psychics,” said the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which tallied such things across a wide swath of the American public and released the findings Thursday.

Consider that 23 percent of conservatives and 35 percent of liberals claim to have been in touch with the dead. Eighteen percent of conservatives and 33 percent of liberals believe in reincarnation. Another 18 percent of conservatives condone the power of “spiritual energy” compared with 30 percent of liberals.

Interestingly enough, 17 percent of both ideologies believe in the “evil eye,” or the casting of a curse, the study said. One out of 10 conservatives have visited a fortuneteller, compared with a fifth of liberals.

Wait, there’s more.

Twenty-one percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Democrats claim to have been in touch with the dearly departed. Nine percent of the Grand Old Party have consulted a fortuneteller, compared with 22 percent of the Democrats. And15 percent of Republicans say that yoga is a “spiritual” practice, compared with 31 percent of Democrats.

Just 12 percent of the Republicans put any credence in the “evil eye,” while 19 percent of Democrats believe in the phenomenon. The findings were based on a nationwide survey of 4,013 adults conducted in August.

PAGING MR. COYOTE

Got to love Republicans who can frame Medicare in comedic terms.

“Have you heard about the latest ‘cant miss’ idea for health care reform being considered in the Senate? Its known as the Medicare ‘Buy In’ option because seniors would be able to ‘buy in’ 10 years before they officially become eligible for Medicare,” notes the Republican Study Committee.

“Good idea. Lets take an entitlement program already on pace for insolvency in 2017 and make it even bigger. Medicare is largely in dire financial straits because its about to get flooded with baby boomers. As they leave the work force and join the Medicare rolls, the whole thing will collapse,” the group continues.

“It doesnt take an economist to tell you Medicare is teetering on the edge. And, consistent with their history of promoting incredibly flawed ideas, Democrats are ready to give the program a good, strong shove off the cliff by letting Americans in 10 years earlier. Itll be like watching ‘Looney Tunes’ when Wile E. Coyote suddenly realizes he ran out of cliff sooner than expected. Watch out - here comes the anvil. Unlike in the TV version, hilarity will not ensue.”

WHAT’S BREWING

The Tennessee-based Tea Party Nation got the big “get.” Sarah Palin will be the keynote speaker at the First National Tea Party Convention on Feb. 4-6, to be staged in Nashville. Republicans Reps.Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, plus former Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore will also appear, organizer Judson Phillips tells Inside the Beltway.

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