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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.:"Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and...

Democrats occupied the Senate floor all night Monday, talking about climate change. They didn't try to advance any legislation, and they didn't even try very hard to get media attention.

The members know that serious climate change legislation stands no chance of passage in this divided Congress, wrote the New York Times' climate-change reporter, Coral Davenport. Beyond that, Democrats know that action on climate legislation would help Republicans take the Senate in 2014.

So why occupy the Senate floor talking about the issue? In short: Faith, identity and cash.

The liberal climate cause is easier to understand if you think of it as a religion. Mondays talkathon sounded at times like a religious revival. Senators spoke about the faithful who believe in wind and believe in renewable energy. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said climate for him is a faith issue.

One doctrine in the Church of Climate is sola fide. In the words of Reformation theology: Justification comes through faith alone. Good works are irrelevant.

During the George W. Bush Era, for instance, liberal enviros compared the U.S. unfavorably to Europe on climate matters. The U.S. was curbing greenhouse gas emissions better than Europe, but Europe had made the profession of faith: signing on to the feckless Kyoto climate-change treaty.

Similarly, Democrats dont need to do anything about climate, as long as they profess their faith. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., uttered the creed on the Senate floor: We believe in science.

Identity politics also makes sense of empty phrases like we believe in science. The Left finds much of its self-worth in the notion that liberals believe in science more than conservative mouth-breathers do.

Democrats called Republicans deniers 28 times during the talkathon. Majority Leader Harry Reid framed his speech this way: Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and overwhelming public opinion, climate change deniers still exist.

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Democrats talk about climate, rake in billionaire bucks

Rubio: Immigration Reform Unlikely Under Obama
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and leader of an effort to rewrite U.S. immigration laws, talks about immigration reform and t...

By: Bloomberg News

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Rubio: Immigration Reform Unlikely Under Obama - Video

By Frank Thorp V

For the second time in recent months, a group of immigration reform advocates confronted House Speaker John Boehner Thursday morning at a diner on Capitol Hill where he was having breakfast.

Activists used the same tactic for confronting the top Republican in November of last year.

In a video documenting the exchange, Veronica Zavaleta - an undocumented immigrant from Tennessee who has a son going to college in Kentucky tells Boehner I really want to know why you have broken the dream of the DREAMERS."

Boehner can also be heard saying Whoa, whoa, whoa, that is not very nice, although the speakers office says that comment was not addressed to Zavaleta or the other protestors.

The video was posted on YouTube by the Center for Community Change.

The three volunteers from Tennessee are part of the FIRM (Fair Immigration Reform Movement) coalition and are in Washington participating in a "Keep Families Together Summit," which includes rallies and events where they are confronting members of Congress asking them to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

First published March 13 2014, 8:48 AM

Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News. He started this role in June 2011. Thorp is responsible for managing coverage of the House of Representatives, and supports Capitol Hill correspondents Kelly ODonnell and Luke Russert in their reporting on Congress.

Previously, Thorp served as NBC News long-term presence in Haiti after a devastating earthquake hit that country in 2010. Thorp has also worked at CBS News.

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Immigration Activists Confront Boehner at Diner, Again

Lent reminds Catholics to focus on three areas: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. This year, many are choosing to make their Lenten commitments shine a light on social injustices within our country and beyond, fasting with organizations advocating for change.

As Lent began March 5, more than two dozen presidents of Catholic colleges and universities fasted for 24 hours to bring attention to the ongoing campaign Fast for Families. On Feb. 22, more than 150 students from various Midwestern Catholic colleges and universities gathered at Loyola University Chicago for "Lighting the Pathway: Student Summit on Immigration Reform." I sat with three Loyola University Chicago sophomores to discuss their commitment to immigration reform and their experience at the summit.

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Why does immigration reform matter to you?

Claire O'Halloran: I was one of the students who went in November to the Ignatian Solidarity Network teach-in to advocate for increasing the minimum wage. There were students who were also there to advocate on immigration reform, and I learned how much these issues factor into each other.

Flavio Bravo: This is definitely a personal issue and a passion of mine. Coming from Arizona, I thought it was the norm to talk regularly about immigration reform. I thought in Chicago, everyone would want to talk about this issue, but many have never seen the border. They don't know about it.

Growing up, we would go on shrimp runs [to Mexico], and at the border, they would say, "Welcome, Flavio" and say the same to my brother, but my sister, the only one who has dark skin, would be asked questions.

It all goes back to my uncle, who was Cesar Chavez's right-hand man; my uncle's coffin was built by Chavez's brother. Labor rights have a direct tie to immigration reform.

Hannah Coley: I thought about immigration reform seeing people my age struggling when I don't have to worry about going to college. I had never thought about that before and this changed to being an issue present for people I know. It was a huge shock.

How has the need for immigration reform impacted you personally?

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A Lenten commitment to immigration reform

'Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman', oil on canvas painting by Jan Steen, c. 1668

While many devout Jews across the United States and elsewhere observed the pre-Purim tradition of fasting on Thursday, March 13, more than 200 Jewish women and men are going without food today for a different cause: immigration reform.

This year, members and supporters of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) have recast the Fast of Esther, a minor fast day named for the Purim storys heroine, as part of a month-long campaign to urge the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year.

The Fast for Families, a nationwide campaign that began on March 8 and will culminate with an event in Washington, D.C., on April 9, is being led by a coalition of faith groups, labor unions and other organizations pushing for immigration reform legislation. While the broader campaign mentions Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez as models for their current action -- all three men fasted to draw attention to their causes NCJW is looking to Esther for inspiration.

We hope to draw on Queen Esthers courage as we fast to call attention to the importance of just, humane, and comprehensive immigration reform that is sensitive to the needs of women, children, and families, NCJW CEO Nancy K. Kaufman said in a statement.

For the estimated 11 million immigrants believed to be living in the U.S. without legal status, 2013 saw the Senate pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a path to citizenship. But any hope for immigration reform in 2014 would require that bill to be taken up by the House, which has not yet happened.

Indeed, House Republicans passed a bill on March 12 that was an implicit rejection of President Obamas 2012 executive action that offers immigrants brought to the US as very young children the so-called Dreamers the chance to remain in the country and seek employment, despite not having legalized status.

Despite what appear to be long odds, NCJW and other cosponsors of the Fast for Families are trying to draw attention to the need for immigration reform. That includes the 18 people in Los Angeles who signed up for NCJWs fast on March 13.

I usually only fast once a year, and thats for Yom Kippur, Maya Paley, director of Community Engagement and Special Programs at the National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles, said.I felt like this was an important reason for me to join in and fast, because I feel really saddened by the fact that immigration reform hasnt moved forward in our Congress.

NCJW, as a progressive organization that focuses on improving the quality of life for women, children and families, sees the failure to pass immigration reform as affecting women in uniquely challenging ways. Paley used to work with teenage girls in South and East Los Angeles, including some whose parents are living here illegally, or who are themselves illegal immigrants. Having helped many of these young women gain admission to two- and four-year colleges, Paley watched with dismay as their legal status threw up roadblocks that prevented many from enrolling in those schools.

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Channeling Purims Esther, Jewish women fast for immigration reform