January 16 and 17, 2016


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/anglicans-penalize-u-church-over-gay-marriage-avoid-091749666.html

Anglicans penalize U.S. church over gay marriage to avoid schism
Reuters
By Estelle Shirbon
January 15, 2016


CANTERBURY, England (Reuters) - The Anglican Church has slapped sanctions on its liberal U.S. branch for supporting same-sex marriage, a move that averted a formal schism in the world's third-largest Christian denomination but left deep divisions unresolved.

The Anglican communion, which counts some 85 million members in 165 countries, has been in crisis since 2003 because of arguments over sexuality and gender between liberal churches in the West and their conservative counterparts, mostly in Africa.

Following four days of closed-door talks, the heads of the world's 38 Anglican provinces said the liberal U.S. Episcopal Church would be barred for three years from taking part in decision-making on doctrine or governance.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry told his peers at the talks that he remained "committed to 'walking together' with you as fellow primates in the Anglican family", but lamented their decision.

"For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay and lesbian, this will bring more pain," he told the gathering in remarks reported by an Episcopal news website.

The sanctions also prevent the U.S. church from speaking on behalf of Anglicans on interfaith or ecumenical bodies and bar it from certain committees for three years.

There were widespread fears of a schism ahead of the talks, which were convened by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of Anglicans.

One of the most outspoken conservatives, Archbishop of Uganda Stanley Ntagali, proposed at the talks that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, which is considering also approving same-sex marriage, should withdraw from communion activities until they repent.

The proposal was rejected, and Ntagali left the meeting early, although he stopped short of quitting the communion.

"ARCHBIGOTS"

The slap on the wrist for the Episcopals appeared to satisfy no one, with gay and lesbian Anglicans expressing outrage while conservatives said the sanctions did not go far enough.

"Unity shown by the primates here is going to be costly because we have deep differences," Welby told a news conference.

Referring to the treatment of gay and lesbian Anglicans, Welby apologized personally "for the hurt and pain in the past and present that the Church has caused".

A conservative Anglican body, GAFCON, which many think could form the basis of a breakaway communion in any schism, said it doubted the effectiveness of the sanctions because the Church had so far been "unable to guard biblical truth and restore godly order".

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), which includes many conservatives who broke away from the Episcopal Church over its approach to marriage, said the sanctions were "a good step back in the right direction" but insufficient.

"The sanctions are strong, but they are not strong enough, and to my deep disappointment, they didn't include the Anglican Church of Canada as they should," wrote the head of ACNA, Archbishop Foley Beach, who attended the talks.

But at Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of Anglicans where the talks took place, Welby was confronted by a group of about 40 angry gay and lesbian Anglicans from African countries outside the cathedral shortly before his news conference.

They were bearing placards with slogans such as "Anglican Archbigots, shame on you" and "Homosexuality is African, homophobia is not".

A Nigerian gay Anglican who gave only his first name, Chijioke, said religious leaders on the continent should be focusing on issues such as bad government and poverty rather than obsessing about issues of sexual orientation.

"We have been made to feel that we are nobody. That is not what the Church should do. God created all of us," he told Reuters just outside the cathedral.

Chris Bryant, a gay former Anglican priest who is a member of the British parliament for the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter: "I've finally given up on the Anglican church today after its love-empty decision on sexuality. One day it will seem as wrong as supporting slavery."

The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches are the largest Christian denominations.




"The Anglican communion, which counts some 85 million members in 165 countries, has been in crisis since 2003 because of arguments over sexuality and gender between liberal churches in the West and their conservative counterparts, mostly in Africa. Following four days of closed-door talks, the heads of the world's 38 Anglican provinces said the liberal U.S. Episcopal Church would be barred for three years from taking part in decision-making on doctrine or governance. For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay and lesbian, this will bring more pain," he told the gathering in remarks reported by an Episcopal news website. The sanctions also prevent the U.S. church from speaking on behalf of Anglicans on interfaith or ecumenical bodies and bar it from certain committees for three years. There were widespread fears of a schism ahead of the talks, which were convened by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of Anglicans. One of the most outspoken conservatives, Archbishop of Uganda Stanley Ntagali, proposed at the talks that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, which is considering also approving same-sex marriage, should withdraw from communion activities until they repent. The proposal was rejected, and Ntagali left the meeting early, although he stopped short of quitting the communion. …. They were bearing placards with slogans such as "Anglican Archbigots, shame on you" and "Homosexuality is African, homophobia is not". A Nigerian gay Anglican who gave only his first name, Chijioke, said religious leaders on the continent should be focusing on issues such as bad government and poverty rather than obsessing about issues of sexual orientation.”


“…until they repent.” The two groups of Anglicans have a basic disagreement over what the church should and should not govern, and those who champion gay rights think it should reflect modern values. They aren’t likely to “repent.” The United Methodists have already changed their rules on allowing gay marriage and LGBT clergy several years ago. I grew up in a Southern Methodist Church which later became United Methodist, and they were always, during my lifetime, more liberal than the Fundamentalist Evangelical churches, including the Southern Baptists. The Methodists did not mandate a belief that the Bible had to be taken literally or that women must knuckle under to their men or that there is a literal heaven and hell. No one was ever expelled, during the 1900s at least, over their views or even “shunned,” as the Amish have been known to do. Many individuals in my Methodist Church, at least, didn’t claim to know for sure who will be going to hell and who won’t, and no one there ever asked if I were “saved.” They left those things up to God. I think many members of our congregation may have believed the Apostles Creed, but not all. They would certainly never have gathered up an unruly crowd to go and picket funerals over the gay/lesbian issue.

Schism, after all, is not a bad thing. It’s sometimes the only way for a group to grow. A spiritual group of like minds should be able to worship in the style they want and believe the doctrines they want. If America ever departs from that viewpoint, we will go back to the 1500s and undoubtedly be moving toward a new civil war. I don’t personally want to attend a foot washing ceremony, but it is not immoral or unethical and it causes no real problem. Behaving kindly toward other worshippers by washing their feet is fine, and that somewhat odd sounding ritual does come directly from the New Testament. It was a way of welcoming a traveler whose feet were supposed to be dusty from the trail. (Folks in that day had no conveyances except a horse or donkey.)

The Protestant Reformation, after all, was a huge schism, but it brought in the toleration of brilliant new ideas including a method of thinking called “the scientific method,” that moved society forward in spite of its’ “conservative” tendencies. No longer were prominent and well-schooled scientists excommunicated or even executed for saying that the world is round, or that the earth revolves around the sun. The times had “a-changed” and Protestants in large numbers went along with it. Obedience was no longer the highest virtue. Now, of course, the Darwinian ideas and other examples of critical thinking are under assault, at least in the US, from a religiously oriented radical political movement whose goal is to set up a theocracy in this country. They are hiding among the ranks of the Tea Party.

I think the Catholic Church is too large nowadays to remain pure. It is a political and financial structure of great power. If you don’t believe it, just watch the 2013 movie Philomena, which is not a work of fiction. I believe that characteristic is what Pope Francis is working to modify, to the consternation of some modern Catholics; and return the church to its former role of aiding the poor and otherwise needy people as Jesus himself did instruct his apostles to do. Protestant churches also need to broaden their doors for greater inclusion. Inclusion of the LGBT community in our churches is what we should be doing rather than calling them sinners.

People of both sexual persuasions have been a part of all human groups down through the several million years that we have existed, I feel sure. The chimpanzee-like bonobos copulate almost constantly and as one article said “in all combinations.” That is thought by scientists to be in order to maintain peace among the ranks. Rather than fighting they prefer to have sex. Like grooming it builds emotional bridges among the members.

The sexual drive is extremely powerful and pretty irrational in my opinion. I believe it responds to the particular individual’s hormonal balance and to what we call “imprinting,” of the young toward their main or preferred caretaker. In humans most young bond in that way with the parent of opposite sex, but there can be reasons why that doesn’t happen, especially if that parent is sufficiently abusive to the child to cause him to withdraw totally from the opposite sex. Humans are violent toward their children in too many cases, and it sometimes produces a preference for same sex relationships.

Whatever the sex that is chosen, there is bonding which we call “love.” Gay and lesbian people really can’t switch over to a heterosexual preference in most cases, due to the fact that their orientation began shortly after babyhood. This, to me, simply can’t constitute a “sin.” If someone wants to turn their situation around they will have a great deal of psychotherapy to go through, and I doubt that it will work out in the end. Some Baptist groups have experimented with modifying their gay members’ orientation, with very little result. I find it much easier to simply accept their orientation whaterver it is and accept them as they are.

Fundamentalist religions tend to view the “animals” as being infinitely lower than humans and certainly not “related” to us, so they think we form our sexual attractions by conscious act due to our greater intellect. Where there is an anomaly of any kind in an individual, the religious tend to call it “sin;” so in “conservative” states the courts may put the homosexual people, the mentally retarded and even the psychotic individuals who have caused injury of any kind into prison, rather than into a treatment center, and too often on death row to await execution. Many of them have actually been shot on the street by a police officer because he failed to “obey orders” when in fact he was insane or worse, deaf. That to me is one of the most unjust things in our society. Building and equipping mental health centers for permanent housing of highly dangerous psychotic people is what is needed, not putting them in prison where they won’t receive the full range of treatments that they need.

Back to church matters – I think most issues of right and wrong are situational and cultural in nature, rather than religious, and that no church should excommunicate or otherwise punish anyone merely over their sexual orientation. I think the courts should punish sexual crimes, of course, especially if what the criminal has done is violent, such as rape. That should have a severe punishment and it often doesn’t. Leniency toward white sexual abusers is one of the “sins” of most human societies because a man’s “needs” are understood by all men to be part of their birthright. That’s why women who press charges of rape are “tried” by the defense attorney for doing something to “cause or deserve” the rape.

The whole way that sexual issues are viewed in our society annoys me greatly. We need a much larger dose of rationality in the matter in general, and the laws should stop giving whites the judicial preference that they continue to have, even in our modern society. A black man who commits rape, for instance, especially if the victim is white, may well be executed for it.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrants-arriving-in-greece-find-europes-welcome-has-worn-thin/

Migrants arriving in Greece find Europe's welcome has worn thin
By HOLLY WILLIAMS CBS NEWS
January 15, 2016

Photographs -- williams-migrants4.png, A man is turned away by police CBS NEWS
williams-migrants3.png, FarshadRahimi Fard CBS NEWS


ATHENS -- Europe is re-thinking its refugee policy after more than a million settled there last year, fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.

New arrivals in Greece are finding things have changed.

Despite the freezing cold, the rough seas, and the risk of drowning, the migrants keep coming. More than a thousand people arrive each day in Greece, but now Europe's welcome mat is wearing thin.

Farshad Rahimi Fard told CBS News he left Iran in search of religious freedom, paying a smuggler nearly $3,000.

But he's now stranded in Greece, living in an abandoned hockey stadium. Farshad could face deportation after he, like thousands of others, was turned away by Macedonian border guards on the route to Germany.

"We tried to go, but the soldiers of Macedonia tell us 'Go back. No Iranian, go back.'"

Hundreds of other stranded migrants, many from North Africa, are being held under lock and key in a Greek detention center.

CBS News was denied permission to go inside, but one of the inmates sent us videos showing the conditions -- including a protest that he said was put down with tear gas.

Some European countries have built razor wire fences, and others will now only accept refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

As an Iranian, Farshad can go no further than Greece. His dreams of a new life in Europe are destroyed.

"We are human like other countries, we are not terrorists. Why the ways for Iranians is closed? Why?"

Nearly all of the migrants arriving in Europe set off in boats from Turkey. Last year, Europe promised Turkey around $3 billion in return for its help stemming the flow of people.

But so far, that plan hasn't worked.



“But he's now stranded in Greece, living in an abandoned hockey stadium. Farshad could face deportation after he, like thousands of others, was turned away by Macedonian border guards on the route to Germany. "We tried to go, but the soldiers of Macedonia tell us 'Go back. No Iranian, go back.'" Hundreds of other stranded migrants, many from North Africa, are being held under lock and key in a Greek detention center. …. Nearly all of the migrants arriving in Europe set off in boats from Turkey. Last year, Europe promised Turkey around $3 billion in return for its help stemming the flow of people. But so far, that plan hasn't worked.”


So, even after being paid lots of money in an arrangement to stop the refugees from entering Europe, these foreigners are still getting through, this time in Greece. What could the UN do to stop this migration, I wonder? It seems to me that if all the European countries were to share information about individuals as to their possible criminal history or to turn them back as they approach the border areas, so that each individual can be thoroughly vetted these emergencies could be prevented. I’m afraid war will break out over this within the next few years if they continue to pour across borders in this undisciplined way.

The worst story I’ve heard is that of last week when some 1000 North African men groped and even raped women in the city of Cologne out in the open. If their backgrounds were known, those who had criminal or mental health issues could be either confined or sent back to their country of origin.

Shamefully the police, some of the women claimed, did nothing to aid the women, even to the point of refusing to let them into a train station to escape the assaults. That was disturbing enough, but the statement that a small number of those men were giving orders to the crowd on what to do is frightening. Men getting drunk and misbehaving is one thing, but plotting to violate women en masse is shocking. It even sounds like a new form of warfare.

Some 20 men were arrested in Cologne, but out of a thousand that isn’t much help. If individuals or groups of refugees are purposely assaulting people and disturbing the peace they have no reasonable right to remain in country. You may say that sounds like Donald Trump, but he asked for all Mexicans to be sent back (because they are all rapists) and all Islamic people as well, merely on the basis of their religion. My statement, however, is based on the harm that specific individuals are known to have caused and presumably may again. As a practical matter, keeping such individuals out makes sense to me and seems fair.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bernie-sanders-good-chance-win-2016-election/

Sanders: I have a "good chance" to win 2016 election
By REBECCA KAPLAN FACE THE NATION
January 17, 2016

Play VIDEO -- Extended interview: Bernie Sanders, January 17
Play VIDEO -- Sanders: Hillary Clinton “does not have a plan” for family medical leave
Play VIDEO -- Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump is telling pathological lies to the American public


With just two weeks until voting begins in the 2016 primaries and polls showing him closing in on Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is feeling confident.

"I think we have a good chance to win both those states," he said of Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to hold nominating contests. "I think we have a good chance to win this election."

If he does win, Sanders predicted his campaign would come to be known as "one of the great political upsets in modern history."

He is feeling so good, in fact, that the Vermont senator told "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson that while he was watching President Obama's final State of the Union address last week, "the thought did cross my mind" that he could be delivering that address in the near future.

"It's a very humbling feeling," he said, but added a moment later, "It's a long way to go before we talk about inaugural speech, before we toss State of the Union speeches in."

Sanders said he is more electable because he appeals to working class Republicans, Democrats and independents, and predicted that would lead to a large voter turnout that would help Democrats recapture the Senate, House and governor's mansions across the country.

As for comparing his experience to Clinton's, Sanders said the former secretary of state "obviously" has a great deal of experience on foreign affairs.

"But it's not just experience. It is judgment," he said. "Not only did I vote against the war in Iraq, I helped lead the opposition to that war. Hillary Clinton voted for that war, one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the modern history of the United States. So you know what? Judgment counts when you're talking about foreign affairs."

Sanders also criticized Clinton's promise to take on Wall Street and her proposal to ensure paid family and medical leave for Americans.

Clinton said on "Face the Nation" last week that she could take on Wall Street "like Nixon going to China."

Sanders disagreed.

"No, it's not Nixon going to China. That is exactly the opposite," he said. "Nixon was a vehement anti-communist who went to China. Hillary Clinton is somebody who has received significant sums of money from Wall Street."

Dickerson noted that Clinton has said she went to Wall Street in 2007 and told them to "cut it out" and change the way they were treating the mortgage market.

"Cutting it out is not good enough," Sanders said. "What the American people are seeing is huge bail out for Wall Street while the middle class continues to disappear."

He also criticized Clinton's plan for paid family and medical leave. Both candidates want to guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave, but the two candidates disagree on how to pay for the measure. Sanders would pay for it with a $1.61 payroll tax. Clinton's plan, meanwhile, would be paid for with a tax on the wealthy.

"It's not a Bernie Sanders plan. Doesn't go anywhere far enough. It's not a plan. It's a vague idea," he said. "If you want something to be long lasting and where the people have ownership of it. They know nothing is for free. You're going have to pay something for it. When you do something like a vague idea, 'Oh, we're going tax the wealthy on this one,' it could disappear tomorrow."

Clinton has sharpened her attacks against Sanders as he has crept upon her in polls and last week her daughter, Chelsea, said Sanders would "dismantle" Obamacare, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and Medicare -- along with private insurance programs.

Sanders called it an "unfortunate statement."

"I've only been spending my entire life making sure that as many people as possible get health insurance," he said. "The Affordable Care Act, which I helped write, which I voted for, supported, has done some good things. No question. But we have got to go beyond that. We've got to join the rest of the industrialized world. Healthcare for all as a right."

But Clinton defended what her daughter had said in a separate "Face the Nation" interview Sunday where she said that Sanders' position was "confusing" because he hadn't actually put out a health care plan yet. She said that the public can only look at the nine bills he has introduced in Congress on the issue, which would hand the responsibility of providing healthcare over to the states who must match what the federal government pays.

"It's not a traditional kind of single-payer system as I understand it," Clinton said. "It is a state-based system kind of similar to Medicaid if you will, and I do think there are very legitimate questions that can be raised."

Sanders also defended himself against attacks from Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has said that rates under a Sanders tax plan could be as high as 90 percent.

"I don't want to shock you on this one, John. Just because Donald Trump says it, may not be exactly the truth. That happens to be a total lie," Sanders said.

He said the public would "absolutely" see a list of tax rates from him soon.

He also defended calling Trump a "pathological liar."

Trump "tells us that the Mexicans who are coming into this country are drug dealers, they are rapists, they're criminals. I mean that's just a lie. But even worse, he goes around saying, 'I, Donald Trump, I saw on television thousands of Muslims celebrating on 9/11 when the Twin Towers went down.' It's a lie. There is no evidence. There was never anything on television. It never happened. He has not apologized. He keeps saying it. That is a pathological lie," he said.




"I think we have a good chance to win both those states," he said of Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to hold nominating contests. "I think we have a good chance to win this election." If he does win, Sanders predicted his campaign would come to be known as "one of the great political upsets in modern history." …. Sanders said he is more electable because he appeals to working class Republicans, Democrats and independents, and predicted that would lead to a large voter turnout that would help Democrats recapture the Senate, House and governor's mansions across the country. …. "But it's not just experience. It is judgment," he said. "Not only did I vote against the war in Iraq, I helped lead the opposition to that war. Hillary Clinton voted for that war, one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the modern history of the United States. So you know what? Judgment counts when you're talking about foreign affairs." …. "Cutting it out is not good enough," Sanders said. "What the American people are seeing is huge bail out for Wall Street while the middle class continues to disappear." He also criticized Clinton's plan for paid family and medical leave. Both candidates want to guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave, but the two candidates disagree on how to pay for the measure. Sanders would pay for it with a $1.61 payroll tax. Clinton's plan, meanwhile, would be paid for with a tax on the wealthy. …. She said that the public can only look at the nine bills he has introduced in Congress on the issue, which would hand the responsibility of providing healthcare over to the states who must match what the federal government pays. "It's not a traditional kind of single-payer system as I understand it," Clinton said. "It is a state-based system kind of similar to Medicaid if you will, and I do think there are very legitimate questions that can be raised."


I wonder what poll results are giving Sanders the idea that a large number of working class Republicans will vote for him. Perhaps he is getting financial contributions from them? Independents who are not allied with either party may well come to the conclusion that the Grand Old Party is not so grand any more, at least in being helpful for the poor and the lower Middle Class, and a greater number than when I was young of all financial classes are not members of Fundamentalist churches. Punishing gays is mainly the mania of such churches. I do hope that the Working Class will produce a groundswell for Sanders and/or Clinton as opposed to a rightwing candidate of any kind. Trump is especially likely to be repugnant to a large swath of the population, and I do believe that either Sanders or Clinton can beat him. I look forward to the primaries.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/attackers-chant-isis-beating-man-in-front-of-girl-bronx/

Bronx attackers chant "ISIS" while beating man
CBS/AP
January 17, 2016


NEW YORK - Hate crimes detectives are investigating an attack on a 43-year-old man in the Bronx after a group attacked him and yelled: "ISIS, ISIS."

Police say the man and a 9-year-old girl were walking on the street Friday evening when a group approached them, yelling, then punched him and kicked him after he fell.

The man was taken to a hospital and was treated and released. The little girl was uninjured. No arrests have been made. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.

The New York Times reports the man had been wearing a shalwar kameez, a traditional South Asian outfit featuring a long tunic.



Here we are with another sad American story of ignorance and cultural conflict. We can’t afford these things. The failure of foreigners to abandon their national dress when they come here can be deadly. Shortly after 9/11 a Hindu man in a turban was shot for no reason whatsoever at a gas station pumping his gas a few years ago. We need to stop focusing on our group conflicts and read some good books from the library. That’s what I do.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/army-report-slams-general-others-over-anthrax-snafus/

Army report slams general, others over anthrax snafus
AP January 15, 2016

Play VIDEO -- Pentagon reveals more errant lve anthrax shipments

WASHINGTON -- A general and 11 other people associated with a U.S. Army biodefense laboratory face potential punishment for leadership, management and technical failures that an Army report says contributed to the mistaken shipment of live anthrax to other labs over a period of years.

The report released Friday named Brig. Gen. William E. King, who commanded the lab at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah as a colonel between 2009 and 2011, faulting him for actions that "perpetuated a complacent atmosphere" among lab workers.

The report's findings were first reported by USA Today.

The lab came under public scrutiny when it was disclosed in May 2015 that live anthrax had been shipped to 194 other labs, including facilities in all 50 U.S. states and nine countries. The anthrax was supposed to have been killed before leaving Dugway.

The report called the inadvertent shipment of live anthrax "a serious breach of regulations" but said it did not pose a risk to public health. "Over the years, significant safeguards effectively ensured that the inadvertent shipments were not a threat."

Dugway works with biological and chemical agents.

The report said investigators could not pin blame for the lapses on any individual, but it said the Army should consider holding King and the 11 others accountable. The Army has not yet taken disciplinary action against any of them.

The names of the 11 other individuals were blacked out in the publicly released report. It described them as a combination of military officers and others, including laboratory technicians who "failed to exercise due care."

After leaving Dugway, King was promoted to brigadier general and is now commander of the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives Command. A phone message left with his public affairs office requesting comment on the report's findings was not returned.

At a Pentagon news conference Friday, Maj. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, who led the Army probe, said a combination of factors led to the mistaken shipments of live anthrax. These include "gaps in science," such as a lack of research on the effectiveness of using gamma irradiation to kill anthrax spores, which was the method used at Dugway.




“The report called the inadvertent shipment of live anthrax "a serious breach of regulations" but said it did not pose a risk to public health. "Over the years, significant safeguards effectively ensured that the inadvertent shipments were not a threat." …At a Pentagon news conference Friday, Maj. Gen. Paul A. Ostrowski, who led the Army probe, said a combination of factors led to the mistaken shipments of live anthrax. These include "gaps in science," such as a lack of research on the effectiveness of using gamma irradiation to kill anthrax spores, which was the method used at Dugway.”


Our dealing in germ warfare, even if it’s supposedly in self-defense is a disaster waiting to happen. I’m glad that it was in this case “not a threat,” but it makes me nervous anyway. Brig. Gen. William E. King is being charged because during his tenure as head of the lab, he “fostered and atmosphere of complacency.” Don’t any of those people read books?



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-rolls-out-unemployment-insurance-reform-plan/

Obama rolls out unemployment insurance reform plan
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
January 16, 2016

Play VIDEO -- Speaker Ryan promises "bold" new GOP agenda


President Obama unveiled new proposals to reform unemployment insurance policies on Saturday, renewing a commitment he made to prop up American workers in this week's State of the Union address.

"If a hardworking American loses her job, regardless of what state she lives in, we should make sure she can get unemployment insurance and some help to retrain for her next job," the president said in a video. He proposed taking steps to "modernize" the unemployment insurance system.

Mr. Obama's plan includes more career counseling opportunities, increased wage insurance for those making less than $50,000 and expanded coverage for those who qualify for unemployment insurance.

The wage insurance would cover qualified workers to "replace half of their lost wages" -- insuring them for up to $10,000 over two years.

"It's a way to give families some stability and encourage folks to rejoin the workforce," the president said. "Because we shouldn't just be talking about unemployment; we should be talking about re-employment."

In the Republicans' video out Saturday, House Speaker Paul Ryan laid out a new agenda for the upcoming year, promising "bold, pro-growth" changes.

Ryan promised to focus on being a "proposition party" that would lay out new initiatives on national security, the economy, poverty and health care.

"If we do not like the direction the country is going in - and we do not - then we have an obligation to offer an alternative," he said.

The speaker, addressing constituents after a Republican retreat in Baltimore, also planned to roll back the president's "executive overreach" by "restoring the Constitution."

"The president's executive overreach has undermined the Constitution and damaged the people's trust," Ryan said. "What needs to be done to restore the separation of powers and protect our constitutional liberties? These are the ideas that we will be advancing."



"If a hardworking American loses her job, regardless of what state she lives in, we should make sure she can get unemployment insurance and some help to retrain for her next job," the president said in a video. He proposed taking steps to "modernize" the unemployment insurance system. …. more career counseling opportunities, increased wage insurance for those making less than $50,000 and expanded coverage for those who qualify for unemployment insurance. The wage insurance would cover qualified workers to "replace half of their lost wages" -- insuring them for up to $10,000 over two years. …. Ryan promised to focus on being a "proposition party" that would lay out new initiatives on national security, the economy, poverty and health care. "If we do not like the direction the country is going in - and we do not - then we have an obligation to offer an alternative," he said. …. "The president's executive overreach has undermined the Constitution and damaged the people's trust," Ryan said. "What needs to be done to restore the separation of powers and protect our constitutional liberties? These are the ideas that we will be advancing."


President Obama has done nothing that others before him haven’t done with his Executive Orders. He chose not to sit still for the Republican hooligans’ taking over the legislative process by opposing every Democratically proposed bill and attaching unacceptable laws which I like to call “poison pills” to the budget, in the hope that the Dems would pass them anyway. It’s a choice between maintaining gridlock and letting them win, because unfortunately they outnumber us, at least in the House. Obama chose to act as he was able to, within the proper rules of his office, which said hooligans are now calling “overreach.” When the Republican presidents do it, it isn’t overreach, of course.