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Senate to debate whether Kagan is supremely qualified

16 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Justice and judgment are the foundation of the Lord's throne, we read in this Sunday's psalm. Justice and judgment are in the news this week with the announcement that Solicitor General Elana Kagan has been nominated to become the nation's 112th justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmation hearing may prove contentious, observers said. At a ceremony with Kagan at his side in the East Room of the White House Monday, President Obama called Kagan--the first woman to serve as solicitor general and as dean of the Harvard Law School--a "trailblazing leader" and "consensus builder" known for "her openness to a wide range of viewpoints." Kagan said she was proud to be chosen to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring after 35 years. She said that the court serves the country "by upholding the rule of law and by enabling all Americans, regardless of their background or their beliefs, to get a fair hearing and an equal chance at justice." Her selection touched off a debate about her background. Although many justices through history have joined the court with no prior service as a judge, Kagan would be the first in nearly four decades. On Wednesday Kagan went to Capitol Hill for her first meetings with senators who will vote on her nomination. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) promised to make the confirmation process "as smooth as possible," but Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) warned the confirmation would not be a "rush to judgment." Republicans said Kagan must prove she will not be a "rubber stamp" for the administration and cautioned that a lack of candor could be detrimental to her getting bipartisan approval. But those who want to know Kagan's views on hot-button legal issues such as the legality of the new health care law, the constitutionality of gay marriage, or Arizona's new immigration law are unlikely to learn much, observers predicted. If Kagan follows the playbook for recent nominees, she will decline to comment on current political or social issues or hypothetical legal cases. Source: Articles by Perry Bacon, Jr. for the Washington Post, Julie Hirschfeld Davis for the Associated Press, and Peter Baker and Jeff Zeleny for the New York Times

harry reid senate supreme court elana kagan mitch mcconnell
Senators confirm they are tired of confirming

30 Jan 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s second reading Saint Paul urges the faithful in Corinth to “consider your own calling.” Senior U.S. senators, complaining that a mushrooming number of time-consuming confirmation hearings are keeping them from other business to which they were called by voters, are negotiating to streamline the system and reduce the workload. At present some 1,400 presidential appointments are subject to time-consuming Senate confirmation, a system that has frustrated administrations of both parties, according to officials familiar with the discussions. The talks were set in motion by agreement of the two parties' top senators, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "In the vast majority of instances,” said Reid, “the individuals nominated by the president are not controversial, but many have faced delays before assuming their positions. “These delays mean critical decision-makers are not in place,” Reid said. “And the delays make it harder to find qualified people--many great nominees simply cannot wait around for months as the stress and uncertainty affects their families." Source: An article by David Espo for the Associated Press

harry reid senate mitch mcconnell confirmation hearings
Recess appointment sidesteps Republicans

08 Jan 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The gospel recounts the magi’s trip to Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn leader who would shepherd the people of Israel, while the psalmist pledges the Lord will help those who have no one to help them. President Barack Obama sidestepped Republican opposition in the U.S. Senate to appoint the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), tasked with protecting the public from the abuse of unscrupulous financial institutions. Obama used a recess appointment to place nominee Richard Cordray in the leadership post. “When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them," Obama said. "I will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people they were elected to serve." The CFPB was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, enacted in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis to police the market for consumer products such as credit cards and mortgages. Democrats have heralded the bureau, which opened its doors in July, as a way to protect consumers from abusive lending practices like the type of home loans that were made in the years leading into the financial crisis. Republicans have charged the agency is a virtually unchecked government body that will hurt lending and put small banks out of business. "President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in response to the appointment, which sharpened tension between the White House and Republicans who had vowed since May to block confirmation of any director unless they get structural changes to the bureau. Consumer advocacy groups ranging from Public Citizen to the Consumer Federation of America praised Obama's move. So did Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard University professor and Democrat running for the Senate in Massachusetts. Warren gave original shape to the proposal for a consumer bureau and was once a leading candidate to run it. "President Obama's decision to overrule the big banks and the Senate Republicans who are protecting them gives consumers a strong ally and advocate in Washington," Warren said in a statement. Sources: Articles by Jennifer Liberto for CNN Money and Dave Clarke and Matt Spetalnick for Reuters

barack obama recess appointment richard cordray cfpb consumer financial protection bureau lending mitch mcconnell banks republicans senate elizabeth warren
Default deal finally done

20 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday says that the Lord, guardian of Israel, “neither slumbers nor sleeps,” while the second reading encourages us to “be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient.” Sleepless nights and persistentce finally achieved a deal that reopens the federal government and raise the nation’s debt ceiling. But damage has been done.Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, said on the floor of the U.S. Senate that his party and Republicans had found their way to a compromise to “provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs” and avert financial disaster. His Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell, offered his blessing: “This is far less than many of us had hoped for, frankly, but is far better than what some had sought.”There was no sign that Republicans had extracted any major concessions on President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, as some had hoped, other than possibly tighter scrutiny on who gets federal subsidies for insurance.House Speaker John Boehner that he would allow a vote in the House, suggesting it would pass with overwhelming Democratic support and enough Republicans to win a majority. “We fought the good fight,” he said. “We just didn’t win.”The compromise would fund the federal government through January 15 and extend the borrowing power, known as the debt ceiling, through February 7. It also calls for an agreement by mid-December on a long-term budget plan.Sen. John McCain of Arizona gave a nod to bipartisanship but was in no mood to celebrate. “I think it’s obvious that we are now seeing the end of this agonizing odyssey that this body has been put through, but far more importantly the American people have been put through,” he told the Senate. “It’s one of the more shameful chapters that I have seen in the years that I have spent here in the Senate.”The White House commended the Senate for its leadership, but Jay Carney, the press secretary, was quick to remind reporters of the economic damage already done. “There are no winners here,” he said. “The American people have paid a price for this. And nobody who’s sent here to Washington by the American people can call themselves a winner if the American people have paid a price for what’s happened.”Homily hint: There are likely a number of people in your congregation who suffered economically during this period. It is time that we, as members of caring communities, come together to help those hurt most directly to recover and move forward—and to let our elected representatives know we do not appreciate livelihoods and government services being used as political bargaining chips. Source: An article by Michael O'Briend for NBC News

harry reid john boehner john mccain mitch mcconnell debt ceiling government shutdown jay carney
New push for pollutant limits

08 Jun 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Spirit of the Lord goes out to renew the face of the earth, the psalmist says in the readings this Sunday, while also pointing out that if God takes away the breath of God’s creatures, they perish. In an effort to help renew the environment and preserve breath for future generations, the Obama administration unveiled a plan Monday aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third over the next 15 years.Though it sets the deadline for some states to begin complying until long after Obama leaves office, the 645-page plan, expected to be finalized next year, amounts to one of the most significant U.S. actions on global warming and is designed to give the United States more leverage to prod other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year.Already, however, there has been pushback. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced a bill that would try to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s rules unless proof was provided that the regulations will not threaten electric reliability, raise electricity prices, or cost jobs.McConnell, a Republican who represents Kentucky—a major coal-producing state which is also reliant on coal for electricity generation—faces a tight reelection battle in November and has been campaigning on a promise to protect the state's ailing coal sector. The EPA has assigned Kentucky one of the least stringent goals of reducing the carbon intensity of its power plant fleet, giving the state a chance to shift away from its coal-dominant energy mix over several years. On Monday two House lawmakers from the coal-producing state of West Virginia said they also plan bipartisan legislation to stop the EPA's power plant rules.McConnell said the U.S. labor secretary would need to certify that the EPA rules will not lead to job losses, the Congressional Budget Office would need to prove they would not harm economic growth, and the Department of Energy's statistics arm would need to show they will not raise electricity prices. Otherwise his bill would prevent the EPA from proceeding.The proposal will undergo at least four months of public comments. States, which can comply with individually set goals using a range of actions, must submit their plans to the EPA by June 2016.Homily hint: In the another Preaching the News item this week about immigration, a letter from U.S. Catholic leaders says in part, "Legislative obstruction in the face of preventable suffering . . . is not only a failure of leadership. It is immoral and shameful.” Encourage your elected leaders to consider the common good, not narrow political interests, when making policy decisions, especially about something as important as the future of the environment. Sources: Articles by the Associated Press and Valerie Volcovici, Ros Krasny, and G. Crosse for Reuters

environmental protection agency global warming mitch mcconnell carbon emissions coal epa power plants