Wartime profits are a thing — from the people who make the machines we use to kill other people to the garment factories that provide clothing for the people who do the killing, there is money to be made keeping the war machine equipped. Eisenhower, the retired Army general we elected president in 1952, warned against an economy fueled by war — the military industrial complex. Simply put, waging war requires stuff and stuff requires people to make it and making stuff provides jobs. Ergo, when there is a war…
Great to Meet You at Wild Goose!
We were delighted to meet many of you at the Wild Goose Festival last week. Council staff members enjoyed spending time with friends from across the country, hearing your stories, and discussing ways to work together for a more just society. Although Wild Goose 2017 may be over, opportunities for progressive people of faith to gather are not. We hope you will join us for a variety of Council events in the works across the state for fall.
The President’s New Policies are Bad for Cuba and the Church
I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Cuba on two occasions: the first in 2000 on a mission trip with a Baptist church and the second last September with a Witness for Peace delegation. On both visits, I have witnessed Cuban people suffering because of the U.S. embargo combined with stifled dissent and socialist economics. Basic goods are unattainable. The cars in Cuba, which are vintage remnants from the mid-1900’s and are beloved by tourists, have been kept running by savvy Cubans who are surviving under an economic…
Senate Health Care Plan — Let’s Keep Calling
As the Senate continues its secret deliberations on a health care plan that will effect all Americans, the potential impact on one of the most vulnerable groups in our society – children – continues to unfold. Indications are that, in their closed-door meetings, the Senators have taken a similar approach to the House of Representatives. The plan that emerged from the House, the American Health Care Act, would cut $800 billion dollars in Medicaid nationwide. As our friends at NC Child point out, those cuts cannot happen without affecting children…
Let Us Show Love and Compassion on World Refugee Day
First celebrated in 2001, World Refugee Day is held annually on June 20. The day marks a worldwide effort to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and recognize the contributions of forcibly displaced people. The annual commemoration is designated to honor “the strength, courage and resilience of refugees.” It is marked by events in more than 100 countries; in Raleigh it will include the screening of a documentary about Kenyan refugees, to be held at the Cameron Village Library at 6 p.m., sponsored by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Many people are not aware of World…
Now what? Staying Engaged and Grow the Interfaith Climate Movement
We were already living in a time of profound consequence. President Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement means that while the needs of our endangered climate are increasing, the response to global warming is diminishing at the national level. Our actions now, as climate conscious people of faith, matter more than ever. There are a few things you can do right now to help maximize our collective impact as North Carolina’s statewide multi-faith network committed to addressing climate change as a moral issue: Engage your interfaith climate conscious…
2018 Budget Proposal is the Antithesis of our Call
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written than most of us can fully absorb, but Politico offers a key observation: On close reading, the budget is less a credible attempt to eliminate, or even pay down, the U.S. debt and more an ideological policy agenda disguised as a program of fiscal responsibility. If the proposal is, as such plans are often described, a place to begin discussion…
Raleigh Report — May 10, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net.] Newly Introduced Bills EDUCATION Three companion bills would impact food served in schools. H 891, Free Breakfast and Lunch in K-12 Public Schools, would provide funds ($200 million per year) to make free breakfast and free lunch available to all public school students who request it. It would also create a fund to which taxpayers could contribute through a…
Raleigh Report — April 26, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [The deadlines for the introduction of most new bills have now passed, and we are in Crossover Week. By the end of the week, most non-money bills (i.e., not taxes, fees, or appropriations) must have passed one house in order to remain alive for this session. There are exceptions, and those exceptions can sometimes be used creatively by legislative leaders to keep bills alive. For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to…
Efforts to Cut Health Care Continue in Congress
The public is opposed to efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act, but some members of the U.S. House of Representatives seem determined to forge ahead anyway. The latest version of a replacement plan for the ACA could be voted on as early as this Wednesday. As with the American Health Care Act, this would leave fewer people with insurance and stands to strip away many of the ACA’s most crucial provisions, such as requiring the coverage of essential benefits including prescription drugs, mental health services, and maternity care. Constituent…
Raleigh Report — April 21, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For the latest committee referrals and re-referrals, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net. There you can also find the texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes.] Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 727, Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, would add a lengthy and detailed amendment to the state constitution, subject to voter approval. The heart of the amendment is that the state’s budget could not increase each year more than the national inflation rate plus the state’s population growth rate. A larger…
Do We Treat Workers as We Would Treat Jesus?
In this Easter season of the Christian church, we have just celebrated Resurrection Sunday and the joy we feel that Jesus overcame death. However, my preacher, the Rev. Betty Connette of West Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, noted in her Easter sermon that believing in the resurrection is not the important part. The important part is what we do with our belief in the resurrection. How do we live the resurrection? As Christians in a consumer-driven, corporate-dominated society, we must be as concerned as Jesus was about all people —…
SB 145 Debate Not in Accordance with Matthew 25
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee of the North Carolina General Assembly discussed SB 145, an anti-immigrant bill that would expand the 287g program, thereby allowing local law enforcement to act as ICE officials and forcing NC university system institutions to disclose a student’s immigration status if required by a state or federal agency. It would also revoke the exception that allows law enforcement officers to accept a community ID such as the FaithAction ID and withhold state funding from cities or counties that adopt a so-called “sanctuary” policy or ordinance regarding undocumented immigrants in any…
Raleigh Report — April 17, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 540, Teachers & State Employees Pay Raise, would give annual raises of $2,400 to teachers and other state employees making less than $100,000/year. The bill would appropriate more than $700 million for the first year of these raises. Introduced by Reps. Malone (R-Wake Forest), Jordan (R-Jefferson), J. Bell (R-Goldsboro), and Hardister (R-Greensboro). Referred to House Appropriations. CHILDREN AND FAMILIES S 594/H 608, Family/Child Protection & Accountability Act, would require the state to develop a plan to divide…
Raleigh Report — April 10, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Bills are being introduced at a rapid pace as the Senate’s deadline for new bills has passed and the House’s deadline on non-money approaches. This Raleigh Report and another one later in the week will try to catch up with the flood of bills. Newly Introduced Bills CHILDREN AND FAMILIES S 439, Eliminate NC Pre-K Waitlist Statewide, would appropriate $36 million over the next two fiscal years to eliminate the waiting list for the NC Pre-Kindergarten Program (formerly known as More at Four). Introduced…