Patient Joan West at University of Chicago Medicine Primary Care Clinic.(Photo by Jim Young/Reuters)

No one expects health care costs to decline anytime soon, but the rate of medical inflation has fallen sharply over the past few years, and partisans have competing explanations. Is health care reform making care more efficient and affordable, or has health care spending dipped just because of the recession?

New analysis from PricewaterhouseCooper suggests we’re making real, sustainable progress. In a report released today, the consulting giant’s Health Research Institute predicts what it calls a “historic slowdown” in the rising cost of health care in 2014. Total health care spending may spike as Obamacare draws millions of currently uninsured people into the system. But the report predicts that each person’s costs will rise at “some of the lowest levels since the government began measuring national health expenditures in 1960.”

Unlike the 1990s and early 2000s, when double-digit increases in health care spending were the norm, next year will bring only a 6.5% increase, if the report’s projections hold.  But because insurers typically dilute price hikes by tweaking benefits, the actual growth rate will likely be closer to 4.5%. That is more than wages will increase, but it marks a significant narrowing of the gap.

What’s driving this auspicious trend? The PwC analysts track the behavior of consumers, providers, insurers and employers, and they see signs of both a decline in the use of costly services (thanks in part to the slow economy) and an increase in the overall quality and efficiency of care (thanks in part to health care reform).

On the “usage” side of the ledger, consumers battered by stagnant wages and aggressive cost-shifting are “questioning and sometimes delaying procedures, imaging, and elective services,” the report observes. The authors view this new restraint not as a fleeting response to the recession, but as a structural change. Employers have responded to rising costs by passing them along to consumers, and consumers are now hitting their own limits. “When you’re less insulated from the real cost of care, it affects the way you behave,” says Ceci Connolly, the managing director of PwC’s Health Research Institute and an author of the report. “People are being more cost-conscious shoppers because they’re spending more of their own money.”

That’s good news insofar as we’re skipping wasteful, needless services—and bad news to the extent that we’re foregoing needed care. But that’s only part of the story. The report also identifies reforms and innovations that are making needed care more affordable.

One is a simple change of venue. The nation’s overbuilt hospital system has traditionally performed countless functions that can be performed just as well for a fraction of the price in doctors’ offices, in retail clinics, or even remotely via teleconference. Clinics like the ones now appearing in chain drug stores can treat a minor illness for one-seventh the cost of a hospital emergency room ($76 versus $499)—and people actually prefer the experience. The use of retail clinics tripled between 2007 and 2012, and the trend is still young.

Retail clinics are well equipped to manage chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Those conditions already account for 75% of all health care spending, and they’re becoming more prevalent as the population ages. “With more than half of the nation’s population expected to have at least one chronic condition by 2020,” the report notes, “the potential [savings are] phenomenal.”

Even when hospital care is unavoidable, new models of reimbursement can make it less exorbitant. Under the traditional fee-for-service billing model, the institution spits out bills for every pill and procedure a patient receives. More procedures mean more profits, and costs soar accordingly. Some companies are now converting to so-called high-performance networks, in which a flat fee (or “bundled payment”) covers the whole cost of an episode such as a heart attack or a kidney transplant. Obamacare encourages this shift in incentives, and early studies suggest it can reduce hospital costs by 10% to 25% without compromising the quality of care.

Obamacare also penalizes hospitals that have to readmit patients within 30 days of discharge, a rough but useful measure of sub-optimal care. The conditions that send people back to their hospital beds—infections, falls, complications—can often be prevented through better care and better follow-up. Readmissions cost $26 billion a year in Medicare expenditures alone, but most hospitals now have programs to prevent them, and the stragglers are racing to institute reforms before the readmission penalties rise under Obamacare next year. Their efforts are expected to save $630 million in 2014 and $1 billion in 2015.

It’s a long way from there to affordable care for all. But the new analysis suggest we’re on the right track and picking up speed.

Protest outside the school district headquarters, Thursday, May 30, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The fight over public education in Philadelphia escalated Monday, when two local parents and two school district employees initiated a hunger strike to protest the closure of 23 schools and firing of 3,783 education professionals.

The four hunger strikers camped out on the steps in front of Gov. Tom Corbett’s Philadelphia office, where they say they will remain without food until the city and state governments do something to reduce layoffs and improve student safety.

“I care about my daughter and grandson,” said hunger striker and parent Earlene Bly in a statement. “I am making this sacrifice to make sure they have safe schools. I am fasting to show my family and the city how serious this situation is.” Bly is the mother of a ninth grader and the grandmother of an incoming first grader.

Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission approved the closures and layoffs late last month as a drastic fix for the school district’s $304 million budget deficit. That budget gap followed deep cuts in state aid for local school districts.

Those to be laid off under the budget plan include 1,202 noontime aides, whose duties include serving food to the students, providing school security, and ensuring student safety. In Philadelphia public schools, those aides are represented by the union Unite Here Local 634, which is working with the hunger strikers. Both of the employees involved in the strike are Local 634 members.

“When the children won’t go to the principal, when they won’t go to their teacher, they go to the student safety staff,” hunger striker and Local 634 member Patricia Norris said in a statement.  ”They give them love and knowledge.  Without them, school would be a disaster waiting to happen.”

This is not the first time that Unite Here members have employed the hunger strike as a tactic in their campaigns. In 2010, Unite Here Local 11 members employed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel initiated a hunger strike over a dispute with the company regarding health care benefits.

More recently, in April of this year, Unite Here Local 30 members employed by the Hilton Mission Valley hotel engaged in a hunger strike to protest the firing of nine workers who had not cleared the E-Verify background check process.

This digital composite shows file photos (L-R, clockwise) Uchenna Eze stands with his N.J. SEEDS mentor, Roy Cohen. (Photo courtesy of N.J. SEEDS) Students pose for photos before a graduation ceremony on May 22, 2013. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post) N.J. SEEDS’ Class of 2013 (Photo courtesy of N.J. SEEDS)

Uchenna Eze took control of his future after his freshman year of high school. As a result, he decided to enroll at the University of Southern California this year after he received acceptance letters from at least 17 schools around the country.

Eze, a senior who graduated this month from Orange High School in New Jersey, is one student who was selected to join New Jersey SEEDS-Scholars, Educators, Excellence, Dedication, Success-after his freshman year.

The nonprofit organization, founded more than 20 years ago, ensures that its students have the knowledge, skills, and support to thrive throughout college. Its College Preparatory Program aims to take high-achieving, low-income students, and guarantee they graduate and are accepted into distinct colleges and universities.

“We’re all there because we want to be there. It was us taking control of our future,” Eze, who described himself as a close-minded person until his participation in the program, told MSNBC.

N.J. SEEDS accepts 15 students per class year from Orange High School and Trenton High School. Students endure a selective recommendation and application process in order to enroll after their freshman year.

The average total income of a family with a SEEDS scholar is about $35,000 per year.

“You give one student the opportunity to go to college, to have a career, to raise children…you change not just that one life but you change the lives of a social circle,” Ronni Denes, president and executive director of SEEDS, told MSNBC.

For every high-achieving, low-income student who applies to college, there are about 15 high-achieving, high-income students who apply, according to a 2012 working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Many of these low-income kids do not apply to any selective college, so they are “invisible to admission staff.”

This month, 28 SEEDS scholars graduated from high school. As a group, they received 124 acceptance letters to 50 colleges and universities in 14 states.

Sam Akande, who also graduated from Orange High, said his life became “significantly better” after he joined.

“I still don’t know much about the world, but through SEEDS I know living in the city isn’t all there is to life,” Akande said.

The college program prepares students for standardized testing, educates them about unfamiliar colleges, pairs them with mentors who assist in making decisions about higher education, and advises them with the financial aid process. The scholars also receive academic and financial guidance throughout college.

“It’s so important that students recognize not just where they want to go and what they want to study, but to find a school that is also interested in them and has the resources to support them,” Denes said.

Students described the program as rigorous and challenging, but also fun because they learn how to thrive in college.

“Do not prejudge anything because you don’t know what the outcome might be,” Nordia Bennett, a graduated senior from Trenton High School, told MSNBC.

Are you making things happen like N.J. SEEDS? Join the conversation. Tweet us your brilliant ideas to #MoJoe, Morning Joe’s web-only series of videos.

This digital composite shows file photos (L-R, clockwise) Uchenna Eze stands with his N.J. SEEDS mentor, Roy Cohen. (Photo courtesy of N.J. SEEDS) Students pose for photos before a graduation ceremony on May 22, 2013. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post) N.J. SEEDS’ Class of 2013 (Photo courtesy of N.J. SEEDS)

Uchenna Eze took control of his future after his freshman year of high school. As a result, he decided to enroll at the University of Southern California this year after he received acceptance letters from at least 17 schools around the country.

Eze, a senior who graduated this month from Orange High School in New Jersey, is one student who was selected to join New Jersey SEEDS-Scholars, Educators, Excellence, Dedication, Success-after his freshman year.

The nonprofit organization, founded more than 20 years ago, ensures that its students have the knowledge, skills, and support to thrive throughout college. Its College Preparatory Program aims to take high-achieving, low-income students, and guarantee they graduate and are accepted into distinct colleges and universities.

“We’re all there because we want to be there. It was us taking control of our future,” Eze, who described himself as a close-minded person until his participation in the program, told MSNBC.

N.J. SEEDS accepts 15 students per class year from Orange High School and Trenton High School. Students endure a selective recommendation and application process in order to enroll after their freshman year.

The average total income of a family with a SEEDS scholar is about $35,000 per year.

“You give one student the opportunity to go to college, to have a career, to raise children…you change not just that one life but you change the lives of a social circle,” Ronni Denes, president and executive director of SEEDS, told MSNBC.

For every high-achieving, low-income student who applies to college, there are about 15 high-achieving, high-income students who apply, according to a 2012 working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Many of these low-income kids do not apply to any selective college, so they are “invisible to admission staff.”

This month, 28 SEEDS scholars graduated from high school. As a group, they received 124 acceptance letters to 50 colleges and universities in 14 states.

Sam Akande, who also graduated from Orange High, said his life became “significantly better” after he joined.

“I still don’t know much about the world, but through SEEDS I know living in the city isn’t all there is to life,” Akande said.

The college program prepares students for standardized testing, educates them about unfamiliar colleges, pairs them with mentors who assist in making decisions about higher education, and advises them with the financial aid process. The scholars also receive academic and financial guidance throughout college.

“It’s so important that students recognize not just where they want to go and what they want to study, but to find a school that is also interested in them and has the resources to support them,” Denes said.

Students described the program as rigorous and challenging, but also fun because they learn how to thrive in college.

“Do not prejudge anything because you don’t know what the outcome might be,” Nordia Bennett, a graduated senior from Trenton High School, told MSNBC.

Are you making things happen like N.J. SEEDS? Join the conversation. Tweet us your brilliant ideas to #MoJoe, Morning Joe’s web-only series of videos.

Seven years ago Congress overwhelmingly reauthorized Section 5 for another 25 years, affirming that the law still plays a critical role in ensuring fair and equal voting rights. Yet, opponents of Section 5 claim that race-based discrimination is no longer present to the extent that justifies such legal protection.

Melissa Harris-Perry guest host Ari Melber and his Sunday panel discussed the scope of structural racism today and whether it requires legal protection and remedy in the case of voting rights.

“Every single indicator, shows the continued existence of racism,” said Jelani Cobb, director of the Institute of African American Studies at the University of Connecticut.

Rather than overt interpersonal racism, this discrimination is more covert and structurally based, often occurring via policies with disparate impact.

Cobb pointed to two reports issued this week as evidence of continued race-based discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced on Tuesday that it has filed suit against Dollar General and BMW for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by basing employment policies on criminal background checks that have a disparate impact on African-Americans.

Also on Tuesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2012 report “Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities.” The report found that, while blatant race-based housing discrimination is declining, unequal treatment continues to persist. In a paired-test study, HUD found that black, Asian and Hispanic renters and homebuyers are told about and shown fewer homes and apartments than white renters and home buyers.

Plaintiffs in Shelby v. Holder have argued that the South has changed to the extent that covered states no longer require preclearance. In oral arguments, Justice Sonia Sotomayor responded:

“Assuming I accept your premise, and there’s some question about that, that some portions of the South have changed, your county pretty much hasn’t.” She later continued, “Why would we vote in favor of a county whose record is the epitome of what caused the passage of this law to start with?”

Justice Sotomayor pointed to the high number of discriminatory laws that Section 5 has recently blocked. The Brennan Center for Justice found that between 1982 and 2006, more than 1,000 discriminatory proposals have been blocked by the DOJ under Section 5. A new report shows that 31 additional proposals have been blocked since 2006.

On Sunday’s panel, Harvard Law School Professor Lani Guinier questioned why the Supreme Court is in the position to make a judgment on the fate of Section Five when “elected officials in this country have made a decision” already by reauthorizing the law in 2006.

Cobb added that the job of the Supreme Court is to correct law, not legislators, stating it’s not the Court’s place to say, “[Congressmen] don’t have the temerity to vote this down, so we will correct it.”

New York University Law School professor Kenji Yoshino predicted that, of the civil rights cases being decided in the next two weeks, same-sex marriage will likely see a victory, but affirmative action and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act are unlikely to be upheld.

See the rest of Sunday’s conversation on MHPshow.com, or at the #nerdland video hub.

Reforming that policy has been one of the president’s legislative priorities since taking office. Now, after passing the Affordable Care Act, enacting an $831 billion economic stimulus package, and successfully bailing out the auto industry, Obama is poised to have immigration reform as his next big victory in his legislative agenda.

However, with hundreds of amendments being introduced on the Senate floor, it remains to be seen if an immigration bill will ever reach the president’s desk.

Amendments introduced from both sides of the aisle could become “poison pills” to the larger reform efforts, the Melissa Harris-Perry panel discussed on Saturday. One such amendment is Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s proposal that a 90% apprehension rate of undocumented immigrants be achieved before the bill’s pathway to citizenship becomes enacted.

The New York Times editorial board wrote Friday that such a precise calculation is nearly impossible to make, creating an impossible mandate that would indefinitely prevent a pathway to citizenship from coming into effect.

Democratic consultant Jamal Simmons described Cornyn’s involvement with the bill as evoking Peanuts’ “Lucy with the football”–citing Cornyn’s demands for concessions that weakened the 2007 immigration bill, only to vote against the final measure.

Other amendments seeking to build triggers for a pathway to citizenship into the bill have already failed, including Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley’s proposal for the Department of Homeland Security to first demonstrate six months of “effective” border control. That amendment was defeated in a 57-43 vote on Thursday.

Controversial amendments still on the table include Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe’s push to allow English-only workplace policies and to declare English as an official language. Another measure out by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy would extend benefits to same-sex partners of undocumented immigrants.

While senators of both parties have vowed that passing these amendments would sink the bill, they are also keeping an eye on public opinion polling of Latino voters. A new national poll by Latino Decisions found that Latino voters would be 45% more likely to vote Republican if the GOP takes a leadership role in passing immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. On Saturday’s panel, Reason magazine editor-in-chief Matt Welch suggested that Republicans, who won only 27% of the Latino vote in the 2012 presidential election, may now be motivated to deal with immigration reform in a way they weren’t during Congress’s last attempt in 2007.

Senate “Gang of Eight” member Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the bipartisan architects of the original bill were “willing to entertain amendments” to ease the process of getting to 70 votes. On Saturday’s panel, NYU professor Cristina Beltran said that strategy “seems like a recipe for creating poor amendments.” NBC Latino contributor Raul Reyes stated there’s a “strong case to be made that it’s better to go with a good bill with 60 or more votes, rather than something that’s an assault on the core of the bill now,” that core being the pathway to citizenship.

Despite his support for comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama has not taken the spotlight on the bill. “He’s playing a deft hand,” noted Simmons, particularly by taking a step back and letting the Senate Gang of Eight lead the bill through Congress. Reyes agreed the president “can’t be too involved because he’ll be a lightning rod” that could threaten bipartisan support.

See the rest of the conversation below.

I’d like to say something about this thing at the IRS.

If Elijah Cummings is right, it’s not a scandal. It’s more like a screw-up.

If it’s all about something that happened in the IRS itself – and that’s the way it looks right now…

If there’s no reason to believe that the Obama people were involved in singling out the Tea Party and Patriot group looking for tax exempt status…

Then let’s be honest – everyone – and say so.

Isn’t that the fair thing to do? You know, innocent ’til proven guilty.

Or is there a new rule across this land that you can keep accusing someone of something as long as you darn well please?

As long as you’ve got a mic in your hand, or a committee chairmanship, you can spew out charges ’til you drop?

Well, if that’s the game, then the rule of fairness, of truth, of common sense is out the window.

If all you’re doing is calling names, you’re no different than the bully in the high school recess yard… The bully who mocks and humiliates and is the worst memory from our youths… The person who “is” everything that’s wrong in human life – the kid we try and, if fortunate, are able to leave behind in human society’s backwash.

The former president believes there will be enough votes to pass an immigration reform bill, but asks, “Will [Speaker Boehner] allow a bill to be brought to the floor of the House that does not have the support of a majority of his own caucus, but clearly would get a big bipartisan majority in the House?”

So far, Boehner isn’t showing his cards. The Speaker said Tuesday there was “no question” that immigration reform would be passed in the House and Senate and signed by the end of this year. But he started walking that back on Thursday, saying “I don’t intend to bring an immigration bill to the floor that violates what I and what members of my party–what our principles are.”

Boehner has broken the Hastert rule three times already this year, in order to pass the fiscal cliff deal, Sandy relief legislation, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. Clinton applauded the Speaker for those votes, saying, “Every time he’s done that, something good’s happened….I think he understands that it’s an important issue for America; it’s an important issue for the Republican Party if they want to be competitive with all the young immigrants in our country.”

The former president also weighed in on the political climate in Washington, saying a fundamental shift has taken place in this country. He cited the deep division among Americans in the 1960s, culminating with a rash of political assassinations. He said that despite the turmoil, “political leadership continued to hold together…we passed the Civil Rights Act, a Voting Rights Act, an open housing act, anti-poverty legislation.  All of it had bipartisan support….there was a political system that was trying to hold the country together even as we were dividing underneath.”

Clinton believes there has been a role reversal when you compare that environment to the political gridlock today, saying “if you look at the support, say, for universal background checks, 80%, 90%, the political system is more divided than the people.”

In the wide ranging interview, Clinton also discussed why he believes Republican efforts to suppress the vote backfired in 2012, and how he thinks New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s political strategy will play outside the Northeast. Watch more of Alex Wagner’s interview with Bill Clinton above.

New York Southern District Judge William Pauley on Tuesday ruled that Eric Glatt and several other unpaid interns who worked for the studio were actually employees, and therefore entitled to at least the minimum wage.

The ruling could set a precedent for young people across the country. If Fox Searchlight’s unpaid internship program was illegal then so are many other similar programs.

Pauley’s ruling “is hugely important, because corporate America has been taking advantage of these unpaid interns for years,” said Paul Secunda, a professor of labor law at Marquette University. “Especially in this economy where people are desperate to find jobs and are subject to exploitation, people have been using these unpaid interns to save money.”

Thanks to a tight job market and a vast oversupply of college-educated young people, many students and recent graduates seek out unpaid or low-paying internships as a way of establishing a foothold in their preferred industry. There are about 1.5 million internships in the U.S. each year, according to Ross Perlin, the author of Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy. Only about half of those internships pay anything at all.

Intern compensation has been the subject of a number of legal challenges in recent years. Last month, former Harper’s Bazaar intern Xuedan Wang lost her lawsuit against Hearst Magazines. This Thursday, two former interns filed suit against publishing company Condé Nast, saying that the company failed to adequately compensate them for their labor. In all three cases, the plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm, Outten & Golden.

“It’s a pretty common misconception that it’s okay to have unpaid interns, because that’s something that’s been done for a long time,” said Outten & Turner associate Juno Turner, who is involved with both cases. “But just because something’s been done for a long time, doesn’t make it lawful.”

In order to get away with paying interns below minimum wage, said Turner, employers need to meet six very strict legal criteria derived from the Supreme Court’s 1947 Walling decision. Those criteria require that the employer “[derive] no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees” and provide training “similar to that which would be given in a vocational school.”

When asked to defend themselves, employers of unpaid interns typically advocate for a broader interpretation of the six-point Walling test.

“You’ve got to consider a lot of different factors including these six factors,” Camille Olson, a partner at corporate law firm Seyfarth Shaw, told Wonkblog’s Dylan Matthews. She pointed to the recent ruling in Xuedan Wang v. Hearst, in which Judge Harold Baer rejected Wang’s claim that she was an employee of Hearst Magazines and therefore owed wages.

Baer based his decision in part on something called the primary beneficiary test, which “looks to the totality of circumstances to evaluate the ‘economy reality’ of the relationship,” according to the ruling [PDF] in favor of Hearst Magazines. In other words, it’s not only the six criteria under Walling that matter; the legality of an internship depends on a holistic view of how much the intern benefits.

“The proposed analysis is to figure out who benefits more from the internship, the intern or the employer,” said Turner, who also represented Wang in the Hearst case. “In addition to not finding support in precedent, that test is really difficult to apply. It’s really subjective.”

The primary beneficiary test is “some judge-made test which is not really true to the law” and “not supported by the Department of Labor,” said Secunda.

He predicted that it would not be long before the Supreme Court took up on a case related to unpaid internships. In that event, the Court will likely defer to prior Supreme Court precedent and Department of Labor policy, he said.

Perlin described lawsuits against employers as “an effective tool…to get justice.” But he lamented the fact that they are necessary in the first place.

“In an ideal world, lawsuits would not be the way that this practice changes,” he said. “It would be from companies changing this policy, changing themselves, interns being to organize more and act collectively, or the Department of Labor playing more of an enforcement role.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference in Washington, Thursday, June 13, 2013.(Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo) Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (C) speaks at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference, June 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference in Washington, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush called immigrants ‘more fertile’ during his speech at the annual conservative gathering of the Faith and Freedom Coalition convention in which he praised the role of transplants in America.

No joke. As part of his pitch for immigration reform to the conservative, evangelical-leaning audience on Friday, Bush said immigrant labor is crucial to the U.S. economy, especially because immigrants are “more fertile.”

“Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans,” he said, adding, “Immigrants are more fertile, they love families, they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity.”

And that was just day two of the faith-and-freedom-themed Republican party.

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when conservatives gather before the organization run by former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed. It kicked off its annual event, titled the “Road to Majority,” on Thursday. Its aim is to strengthen the evangelical base, which often turns out in big numbers. It’s also a chance for potential 2016 presidential candidates to strut their stuff.

The three-day conference in Washington, D.C., comes as a number of social issues have been simmering this week, including a slew of bills seeking to restrict abortion rights as well as gun control, immigration, and gay marriage–all of which have been central to the national discourse in recent months.

But the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s ideals may not jive with the Republican National Committee, which in its post-election autopsy report said the GOP needs to be more “inclusive and welcoming” when it comes to social issues. Otherwise, the report said, the party’s ability to attract younger voters and women may be diminished.

That didn’t stop conservatives from going full force at the conference, however. Here are some key moments thus far:

Sen. Rand Paul says the U.S. is funding a global ‘war against Christianity’ : Talk about fear-mongering. The Kentucky libertarian insisted there’s a “war against Christianity” being spearheaded by liberal elites at home and worldwide. “You, the taxpayer, are funding it,” Paul argued. “You are being taxed to send money to countries that are not only intolerant of Christians but openly hostile.” The senator has repeatedly called for ending aid to countries that have a large population of Muslims, including Libya, Pakistan, and Egypt.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference in Washington, Thursday, June 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Sen. Marco Rubio plays up his pro-life stance: The Florida senator and rising GOP star said the audience should not be silenced from speaking about the values they’ve fought for. “We know that every single human life—whether they can speak or not, whether they are born or not, whether they have a lawyer or not, whether they are registered to vote or not, every single life has value,” said Rubio while making a moral argument for immigration reform. He added those people “deserve protection of our laws and values.”

Chris Christie is a no-show: Perhaps almost as important who attends the conference is who isn’t there. The popular, up for re-election, New Jersey governor declined to attend the conference. Instead, he’ll be in Chicago on Friday to attend a symposium sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, the foundation spearhead by former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Michele Bachmann says immigration reform will wreak havoc on our tax system:The retiring Republican congresswoman and failed presidential candidate struck a different note than Bush on creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

“The estimate is that the average illegal alien that comes into the United States, the average age is 34 years old. The average education level is about 10^thgrade,” said Bachmann. “That’s not to demean the person coming into the United States for a lack of education. But it isn’t prudent to think that if you are 34 years of age with a 10^thgrade education or less, it’s tough to believe that that person will be paying more in taxes than they will be receiving in benefits.” She also argued reform would hurt Hispanics and African-Americans who “already suffer very high levels of unemployment.”

Mark Sanford worries he’s ‘not worthy’: The disgraced, former South Carolina governor–who recently won a seat in Congress–acknowledged his extramarital affair, which derailed his gubernatorial career. “I recognize the ways in which I am not worthy of offering my opinion and my perspective to you on a whole range of things due to my failures in 2009,” said Sanford, who said he initially turned down the offer to speak at the conference. The Republican said, however, that he decided to attend because he “believed in the God of second chances.”

Paul Ryan tries to explain his 2012 loss: The Wisconsin congressman and failed vice presidential candidate said he and Mitt Romney lost last year because they were railing against the “empty promises” of Obama’s healthcare law, which had not yet been implemented.

“Remember, in his first two years, he passed his big program, but he didn’t implement his program,” Ryan said. “Now in his second term, we’re seeing it implemented. And it’s pretty darn ugly.”