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Budget talks fail to cut to the chase

03 Mar 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the reading from the Book of Exodus this Sunday, the Lord assures Moses he has “witnessed the affliction of my people” and has heard their "cry of complaint.” No amount of protest, either from beleaguered tax payers or government agencies, has thus far been able to rouse members of the U.S. Congress to forge an agreement to forestall across-the-board budget cuts taking effect March 1. Looming on the horizon? A showdown that could lead to a government shutdown in a month.With the cuts imminent, the administration continued its campaign Wednesday to cast them in dire terms. "The only choice I can make would be to hurt fewer poor children and help more special needs kids, or do the opposite," said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan during an appearance in the White House briefing room. "It's a no-win proposition." He said the first to feel the pinch will be school districts in and around military bases and Native American reservations, entities which receive direct federal aid to make up for lower local property taxes.Duncan's remarks came a day after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that the forced cuts had prompted the federal immigration enforcement agency to start releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigrant jails across the country.President Barack Obama scheduled meetings at the White House Friday with House and Senate leaders of both parties several hours after the deadline for averting the cuts passes. That would put the White House and Congress essentially in the position of looking past the cuts to the next looming fiscal showdown: A March 27 deadline to continue government operations or force a shutdown. Obama has been calling for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases to achieve deficit-reduction goals.Homily hint: The federal government is not the only entity facing budget challenges. Many of the individuals and families gathering to pray in the community face similar challenges, sometimes much worse. Perhaps a word about the Lord’s promise to Moses this Sunday can bring comfort: Though at times we walk through the desert, God has promised us “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Source: An article by Josh Lederman and Jim Kuhnhenn for the Associated Press

barack obama congress department of education arne duncan school funding deficit reduction government shutdown sequestration department of homeland security
Religious groups confront government shutdown

13 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power,” says the psalmist this Sunday. A number of Christan groups in the U.S. are wishing that the political leadership of their nation would cease obstructing the power of federal services which help others and bring the government shutdown to an end.More than 90 Catholic, evangelical, and Protestant leaders have criticized elected officials who “are pursuing an extreme ideological agenda at the expense of the working poor and vulnerable families." On Wednesday representatives of these churches began holding a daily “Faithful Filibuster” on Capitol Hill, reading Bible verses about the poor “to remind Congress that its dysfunction hurts struggling families and low-income people."The government shutdown has threatened to reduce or shutter charitable services operated by faith-based groups which use federal funds. As Catholic News Service reported, the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, for example, is covering the costs of programs for homeless families and battered women run by the local branch of Catholic Charities. In Washington the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it would be able to continue assisting immigrants through its Migration and Refugee Services for a couple of months if necessary.But officials also made it clear that these are only stop-gap measures that still leave the poor and vulnerable at greater risk. “It is hypocritical and shameful for those who tout their commitment to family values to show such callous indifference,” said an October 2 statement released by Faith in Public Life and signed by a range of Catholic and other Christian leaders.The government shutdown also caused some initial confusion about whether military chaplains would be able to perform religious services. The House passed a resolution October 5 urging the U.S. secretary of defense not to allow the shutdown to reduce religious services on military bases.Military chaplains continue to work during the shutdown, but the resolution was aimed at contract chaplains involved in performing religious services or conducting religious activities, according to The Military Times. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would reinstate almost all of the 350,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department, which was expected to allow contract priests to say Mass.Still, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services says the shutdown is threatening Catholic service members’ religious rights. “Priests who minister to Catholics on military bases worldwide are not permitted to work—not even to volunteer," said John Schlageter, general counsel for the military archdiocese. "During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so.”Homily hint: It is extremely frustrating for many American citizens to watch their elected officials disrupt the the functioning of the federal government and even the democratic process itself for what seems to be their own narrow political purposes. Catholics and other people of faith dedicated to promoting the common good should urge their representatives to follow their sworn mandate to, in the words of the Preamble to the Constiution of the United States, "promote the general Welfare." Source: An article by Kevin Eckstrom, Cathy Lynn Grossman, Sarah Pulliam Bailey,David Gibson, Adelle M. Banks, and Katherine Burgess for Religion News Service

federal funding government shutdown military chaplains faith groups federal assistance church aid
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