Is the federal government more than “one word for things we do together”? Should government say "you're on your own"? A politician and a priest speak about Catholic social teaching, the budget, and government's role in our lives.

If the right to vote is sacred, and depriving someone of that right is morally wrong, then what to make of the tough new voter identification requirements being proposed across the country?

“By nursing our admiration for our military’s virtues, President Obama suggests, we can transform our beleaguered democracy into a more cohesive and mission-focused political community.”

"This economic wound will not heal without profound disagreement—that is the nature of democracy—but Obama hopes that we might bind it charitably and without malice."

“Obama is back on message. Echoing Franklin Roosevelt, he preached economic liberty to the poor and justice to the oppressed without pandering to religious prejudices.”

His speech on religion was one of the defining moments of the 2008 presidential campaign. Revisit analysis of what Republican president candidate Mitt Romney had to say about his Mormon faith and religion in America.

Watch excerpts from a 2010 speech GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a Catholic, delivered in Houston, Texas, on the role of religious faith in public life. The speech was given to mark the 50th anniversary of JFK's famous 1960 speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, a speech Santorum claims told people of faith they have no role in the public square.

Evangelicals are a key Republican constituency, especially in the primary season, and they still appear to be up for grabs.

Watch excerpts of three leading Republican presidential candidates talking about religion.

"We ought to pray here every day until Congress proves worthy of the calling of the nation to govern," said Rev. Michael Livingston, director of the National Council of Churches poverty initiative, at a gathering of religious leaders on Capitol Hill.