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Healthcare reform suffers from hypertension

23 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

We hear in this Sunday's first reading that when Joshua questioned the religious loyalties of his fellow Israelites, they responded, "Far be it from us to forsake the Lord." President Barack Obama's recent signals that he would be willing to forsake a "public option" on healthcare insurance for the sake of bipartisan support has led to an outcry among the president's more liberal supporters. Administration officials insisted that they have not shied away from their support for a public option to compete with private insurance companies, an idea they said Obama still prefers to see in a final bill. "I don't understand why the left of the left has decided that this is their Waterloo," said a senior White House adviser. "We've gotten to this point where healthcare on the left is determined by the breadth of the public option. I don't understand how that has become the measure of whether what we achieve is healthcare reform." When the Obama campaign first crafted its healthcare proposal, the creation of a government-sponsored insurance option "was not the most important thing," said David Cutler, a Harvard University economics professor and campaign adviser on healthcare issues. Obama, like Cutler, embraced the concept because it would afford consumers more options, Cutler said. But while the idea has given conservatives an opening to attack Obama for allegedly supporting government-run healthcare, "to the left it's become this unholy grail" without which any reforms would be inadequate, Cutler said. In a further ratcheting of tensions in a highly charged debate, some Democratic leaders Tuesday accused Republicans of reflexively opposing healthcare reforms in an attempt to score political points against the Obama administration. "The Republican leadership," said White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, "has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's healthcare proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day." Those leaders say the time for bipartisanship has passed and they now intend to pour their energy into mustering sufficient Democratic votes for the proposals. Source: Articles by Michael D. Shear and Ceci Connolly for the Washington Post and Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny for the New York Times

barack obama health insurance health care reform public option david cutler rahm emanuel

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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

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Striking news from Chicago's public schools

16 Sep 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The Lord keeps the little ones,” says the psalmist this Sunday. Though progress was made in contract negotiations, which went until midnight last night and will continue this morning, many Chicago parents will be keeping their little ones at home or making other arrangements as the first strike by Chicago teachers in 25 years goes into its fourth day.By last Sunday union and district officials had failed to reach a contract agreement despite protracted negotiations that the union said failed to adequately address issues such as job security and teacher evaluations. The biggest U.S. labor strike in a year is keeping more than 350,000 children from kindergarten to high school out of school.In the event the strike persists, its tone and outcome could ripple well beyond Chicago, given Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s close association with President Barack Obama. Union support is important to the Obama campaign, which has been careful not to weigh in, even as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney swiftly spoke out against the Chicago teachers.The strike also offers a high-profile test for the nation's teachers' unions, which have seen their political influence threatened by a growing but controversial movement that seeks to expand charter schools, get private companies involved with failing schools, and link teacher evaluations to student test scores."They certainly are on the defensive," said Richard Ingersoll, a professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, of the teachers’ unions. "They are under attack. A lot of times they are demonized. On the other hand there's really smart and progressive elements in the teacher's movement who want to get out ahead of this and do it in a way that's fair." Sources: Articles by Peter Slevin for the Washington Post, Don Babwin and Tammy Webber for the AssociatedPress, Mary Wisniewski and James B. Kelleher for Reuters, and Celeste M. Ball for WGN-TV.

barack obama richard ingersoll teacher evaluations chicago public schools chicago teachers union mitt romney strikes chicago rahm emanuel teachers unions

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