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Weekly Message 2001, #5 from the UCC
Justice and Peace Ministry
Tax Cut Battle Shifts to the Senate
[3-13-01]
On March 8, the U.S. House approved a 10-year, $958
billion cut in personal income taxes. The tax cut proposal now moves to
the Senate Finance Committee, which will consider an additional $650
billion proposed cut in May. The full tax cut plan proposed by President
Bush reduces federal revenues by estimates that range from $1.6 trillion
to $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years.
The UCC Justice and Witness Ministries has opposed the
tax cut, especially the plan passed by the House, which will provide a
only $300 tax cut to a single taxpayer earning $22,000 a year by the
year 2006. Many wage earners and fixed-income seniors in the UCC live
near this level. The small gain from the tax cut will be lost many times
over when inadequate funding forces Congress to abandon a Medicare
prescription drug benefit, or severely cut programs like Social Security
and education.
Contact your senators now and urge them to oppose the
tax cut until spending plans are in place. Only then will it be clear
how much of a tax cut we can afford. For more information on the UCC
position on the proposed tax plan, log onto www.ucc.org/justice
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The Weekly Message is sent by e-mail every Monday for
use in church newsletters and bulletins the following Sunday. To add new
names to this weekly advocacy service from the UCC Justice and Peace
Ministry, for more information, or to remove your name from the list,
reply to JPMDC@ucc.org. For
additional information on the UCC and the Justice and Peace Ministry,
log on to the UCC website at www.ucc.org |
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Visit
our lively
new website! |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries,
confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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If you like what
you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
growing!
Please consider making a special
contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve
this service.
Click here to send a
gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.
Or send your check, made
out to "Presbyterian Voices for Justice" and marked "web site," to
our PVJ Treasurer:
Darcy Hawk
4007 Gibsonia Road
Gibsonia, PA 15044-8312 |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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