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Let bygones be gone

22 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Detroit automakers, who have admitted to poor management practices in the past, filed restructuring plans this week in hopes that the U.S. Congress—and U.S. consumers—will “remember not the events of the past” and give them more money to avoid bankruptcy. General Motors and Chrysler on Tuesday said they would need additional aid from the federal government to remain solvent. So far GM has received $13.4 billion in U.S. loans. Tuesday, the company said it needs $16.6 billion more. GM also said it needs at least $7.7 billion in loans from the Department of Energy to develop fuel-efficient technology. Chrysler has received $4 billion in loans and said it needs $5 billion more. In return, the two companies promised to make further drastic cuts to all parts of their operations. The recovery plans submitted to the U.S. Treasury would seal GM’s fall from the top of the global auto industry and transform it into a smaller, more flexible car company relying less on the U.S. market for sales. Chrysler in January announced plans to form a global alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. Analysts said that Chrysler appears to be steering itself toward becoming the North American arm of Fiat. The government is not obligated to lend the carmakers any more money and could require immediate repayment of the existing loans, a demand that would probably trigger bankruptcy filings for both companies. “It is clear that . . . more will be required from everyone involved—creditors, suppliers, dealers, labor, and auto executives themselves—to ensure the viability of these companies going forward,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday evening. Source: Articles by John D. Stoll, Sharon Terlep, and Alex P. Kellogg for the Wall Street Journal, Bill Vlasic and Nick Bunkley for the New York Times, and Ken Bensinger and Jim Puzzanghera for the Los Angeles Times

automakers general motors chrysler bailout robert gibbs fiat fuel-efficient
Lies and videotape?

08 Mar 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

After witnessing the Transfiguration, the disciples are instructed to keep what they have seen to themselves for the time being. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) apparently also has been keeping information to itself. The agency admitted Monday it had destroyed 92 videotapes of harsh interrogations of Al Qaeda suspects, a much greater number than it had previously acknowledged. The interrogations were a highly divisive issue during the Bush administration, with many Democrats and other critics saying that some methods used amounted to torture--a contention Bush and other officials rejected. A criminal prosecutor is wrapping up his investigation in the matter. Monday's acknowledgment involved a civil lawsuit filed in New York by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking more details of the interrogation programs following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed," said a letter submitted in that case by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin. "Ninety-two videotapes were destroyed." At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday he hadn't spoken to the president about the report, but called the news about the videotapes "sad" and said Obama was committed to ending torture while also protecting American values. Source: An article by Devlin Barrett for the Associated Press

robert gibbs central intelligence agency cia videotapes al qaeda american civil liberties union lev dassin torture
The nation’s “shepherd” passes his first 100 days

03 May 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In John's gospel Jesus describes the qualities of a good shepherd. President Barack Obama will face an assessment of his shepherding skills as he marked his first 100 days in office yesterday, Wednesday. Obama inherited a troubled economy, two wars, and a host of other domestic and international challenges. In his first 100 days Obama signed several executive orders, got a huge economic stimulus bill through Congress, and outlined a plan for troop reduction in Iraq. A recent poll put his job approval rating at 68 percent, the highest among recent presidents. Yet Obama has not been without his share of controversies and criticism, including his decision to allow federal funds to be used by international clinics for abortions and abortion counseling, and the release of "torture memos" that show a systematic program of harsh interrogation methods, including torture, under the Bush administration. The administration is also instituting a regulatory regimen for the financial sector and preparing for perhaps the biggest domestic policy battle in nearly 20 years: a healthcare overhaul. Although the White House initially downplayed the 100-day benchmark, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says that the administration is "playing along," with Obama scheduled to take part in a town-hall-style event in St. Louis and a primetime news conference from the East Room of the White House. "It's an arbitrary demarcation of time created by some conglomeration of reporters and historians," said Dan Pfeiffer, Obama's deputy communications director. "Any suggestion we could do more than make a down payment on the change the president promised in 100 days is unrealistic." Presidential historian Fred I. Greenstein, concurs, "Look back in time," Greenstein said, "and you don't find an enormous amount of foreshadowing in those first 100 days." Source: Articles posted on cnn.com and washingtonpost.com and by Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons for the Los Angeles Times

barack obama robert gibbs fred i greenstein dan pfeiffer 100 days
Iran running roughshod over democracy?

09 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Letter to the Ephesians this Sunday counsels that all bitterness and anger "must be removed from you." That has not happened in Iran, where anger in the streets and bitterness in the halls of the Iranian parliament testify to ongoing resistance to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sworn in for a second term this week. In his inauguration speech Ahmadinejad hailed what he called an "epic election" but didn't mention the turmoil that has followed for the past two months. "The victor is all the people, the revolutionary values, and the Islamic establishment," he said. Reformists did not show up at the inauguration ceremony. Instead, they were busy on social networking sites just as they have been throughout the election crisis. They posted messages ranging from defiance to offering an action plan. One message on Twitter read: "Lots of empty seats in the Majlis (parliament) today. Well done to those who kept away. Now we need leadership committed to regime change." Experts predict that if the power struggle in the country continues, chances are high some leading opposition figures will be blamed for the unrest and be arrested as a result. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs backtracked Wednesday from comments he made Tuesday in which he called Ahmadinejad "the elected leader" of Iran, comments that had raised protests from reformers. Wednesday Gibbs said he wanted to "correct a little bit of what I said yesterday. I denoted that Mr. Ahmadinejad was the elected leader of Iran. I would say it's not for me to pass judgment on. He's been inaugurated, that's a fact. Whether any election was fair, obviously the Iranian people still have questions about that and we'll let them decide that." Source: Articles by Octavia Nasr for CNN and Foon Ray for boston.com

robert gibbs iran election mahmud ahmadinejad majlis
Mass exodus from Democratic agenda?

24 Jan 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The opening verses of Luke’s gospel this Sunday set out the intention to write a narrative of events just as they had been handed down by “those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning.” The largely Democratic and independent voters of Massachusetts handed down a stunning mandate on Tuesday when they elected Scott Brown, a little-known conservative Republican state senator, to fill the U.S. Senate seat long held by the late liberal icon Edward M. Kennedy. Republicans are rejoicing and Democrats reeling nationwide in the wake of Brown’s triumph, a devastating Democratic defeat that triggered soul-searching within President Barack Obama’s party over how to stem further losses in November’s midterm elections. Obama himself grimly faced the need to regroup on Wednesday, the anniversary of his inauguration, in a White House shaken by the realization of what a difference a year made. The most likely starting place will be finding a way to salvage the health-care overhaul Democrats have been trying to pass. The election of Scott deprives Democrats of their filibuster-proof majority of 60 members. They also will need to determine how to assuage an angry electorate, in particular independent voters, after a year of Wall Street bailouts, economic stimulus spending, and enormous budget deficits. The president suggested the same forces that elected Brown “swept me into office” in 2008. People are frustrated “not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years,” he said in a Wednesday interview. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily briefing: “That anger is now pointed at us because we’re in charge. And rightly so.” Brown, in his first meeting with reporters after the special election, portrayed his victory as less a referendum on Obama or the president’s health-care proposal and more of a sign that people are tired of Washington politics and deal-making. He said his victory sends “a very powerful message that business-as-usual is just not going to be the way we do it.” Source: Articles by Michael Cooper for the New York Times and Glen Johnson and Liz Sidoti for Associated Press

barack obama senate robert gibbs health care reform us senate democrats republicans massachusetts scott brown
Daley news creates political headlines

12 Sep 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry,” writes Paul in his Letter to Timothy. Gratitude for his long years of service was the overwhelming sentiment of the day following Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s surprising announcement Tuesday that he would not seek reelection. Daley, who wielded more control over Chicago than anyone but his legendary father Richard J. Daley decades before, brought an unexpected end to the dynasty that became synonymous with the city's political machine. "It just feels right," the 68-year-old Daley told a hastily called press conference as he announced his decision not to seek a seventh term as mayor after nearly 22 years on the job. Flanked by his wife Maggie, who has been battling cancer for years, and their children, Daley called the announcement a "personal decision, no more, no less," and said he and his family now begin a "new phase of our lives." He said he had been thinking about stepping down for several months and became comfortable with his decision during the past several weeks. A relaxed Daley said Wednesday the mayor’s office “doesn’t belong to me” and he has no intention of anointing or even endorsing a successor. “You know who’s gonna decide that? They’re not gonna be anointed. It’s gonna be the people of the city of Chicago who’ll make that decision. It won’t be Rich Daley to make that decision,” the mayor said. Among the names of potential successors to surface was that of Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, who mused earlier this year that he might like the post some day. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday he has "no doubt" that Emanuel will weigh his future options now that the race for Chicago mayor is wide open. "Obviously something like that doesn't come around a lot," Gibbs told reporters traveling with the president to Ohio. "I presume that Rahm will take some time and make a decision about that." Source: Articles by Fran Spielman for the Chicago Sun-Times, Rhonda Madding for Yahoo Associated Content, Dieanna Bellandi, Tammy Webber, and Don Babwin for Associated Press, and Dan Dorfman for Agence France Presse

robert gibbs rahm emanuel chicago richard m daley