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Economic stimulus -- make it just! |
| Economic stimulus package still needs
to be aimed to help those who need the help [11-29-01]
With support from ActForChange and many others, Senate
Democrats have held firm against giving tens of billions of dollars in
retroactive tax breaks to corporations -- even though President Bush is
ramping up the pressure. The Senate needs to hear now that we need
recession relief and not special interest tax breaks.
Click
here for more information and ways to take action.
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| Support an economic stimulus plan for
the most vulnerable.
from the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network
[10-16-01]
Congress is now considering several pieces of legislation which will
make up an economic stimulus package. The House Ways and Means Committee
has passed a $99.5 billion package, almost entirely comprised of new tax
cuts for businesses and corporations. There is no new money for health
care, little money for unemployed workers, and even less money that will
get out into the economy quickly.
2001 Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz notes that the
President's earlier $1.5 trillion tax cut is actually counterproductive
to economic stimulus, because it dries up the money available to
government to intervene in emergencies similiar to those arising from
the Sept. 11 tragedy.
Four principles for an economic stimulus should be
followed:
 | the economic stimulus should be temporary; |
| it should inject money into the economy
immediately; |
| it should not drive the long-term budget into
deficit spending; and |
| it should include government support for low-income
people and workers who have recently lost jobs. |
Support for those who need it most could come in the form of (1)
extended unemployment benefits, (2) the 50 % federal coverage of health
insurance continuation for the unemployed, proposed by Senators Kennedy
and Baucus, or (3) a payroll tax credit for low-income individuals who
did not qualify for this year's $300 tax rebate.
Please contact your members of Congress and urge them
to support increased assistance for low-income and newly- unemployed
workers as the primary component of any economic stimulus package.
U.S. Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121
For additional information on the UCC Justice and Peace Action Network,
log on to the UCC website. |
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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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