California Church IMPACT
empowering & mobilizing people of faith to be effective advocates in public policy
  • Home Page
  • IMPACT Blog
  • About & Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Key Issues
    • Human RIghts
    • LGBTQ Rights
    • Health Care
    • Economic Justice
  • Take Action
    • Resources
  • DONATE
  • CCC
  • Prop 64 Faith Livestream

Senate votes to begin debate on future of health care. Call your Senators DAILY through it all.

7/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dear Friends,

Today's vote in the U.S. Senate wasn't about a particular version of health care - there isn't one - but about taking up the debate nonetheless.  

The fate of accessible, affordable, accountable, and inclusive health care still hangs in the balance.  Several Senators we thought were on the side of the people may still be - but it will take our voices united to improve, not kill, health care.

Our message should go to our own Senators, but it should also go to our friends, families, other congregations where that vote is more vulnerable than it is in California.  Make contacting your circle of loved ones as much a priority as contacting your Senators.  Please forward this message to them.

Without a written bill, we have no way to know what our future holds. This process violates decades of legislative standards - no bill, no mark up in committee, no debate, no public hearings.  We must, therefore, assert that our demands as citizens is that we preserve and improve what we already have.  The Affordable Care Act is not in a death spiral - it is being strangled by Congressional and Executive acts that remove funding without due process and against the Constitution.  

Our message should be clear:

“Hi. My name is [name]. I live in [city, state]. I am a constituent of the senator and want him/her to vote no on any bill or amendment that takes health care away from people. I am a (put your faith alliance here), and my faith leads me to want more health care for people, not less. We must have a health care program that is affordable, accessible, inclusive.  We must improve not destroy the gains this nation has made in saving lives and improving health. Please give the senator my message. Thank you.”

Healing the sick, restoring wholeness, was Jesus' first commandment to his disciples.  In Matthew 10 he makes abundantly clear that they are to offer this as the first step in their presence within any community.  It was not reserved for the few; it was mandated for the many.  

For your Faithful Five Minutes every day, please call your Senators at 202-224-3121.  You will have to call twice to leave messages for both.

If you prefer to FAX or call your district office, please go to our link: http://www.churchimpact.org/take-action.html 

If you prefer to send a Text, on you cell phone go to 50409 and follow the prompts both to set up a contact list of legislators and to send a message to them. 

Then please share this with others especially outside your own state.  This is important, and it may well be our last chance to save Medicaid, ACA, and CHIP as well as protect all other health insurance costs and coverage.  

We cannot go backwards to the days where naked individualism allowed us not to care about one another.  If we in the faith community want to keep moving toward the promise of a just society, it rests on us to have our voices heard clearly and often.

Thank you for all you do.  It matters!

0 Comments

The Affordable Care Act survives for now. Your voice mattered in this!

7/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dear Friends:​

The U.S. Senate has failed to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act (ACA)  Three GOP Senators plus every Democrat and Independent refused to vote for a poorly crafted bill that would cost tens of millions their insurance and raise premium costs on everyone else.

The straw vote for "repeal and don't replace" is equally doomed by the same votes.  Were ACA - Obamacare - simply repealed, it would throw 32 million off health care immediately and would double the cost of premiums over the next several years. 

Your calls, emails, FAXes, and visits to your Senators - even friendly ones who already agreed not to harm ACA - were critical in this action today.  Americans, united in a single voice about the importance of health care, kept the focus on preserving what we had and not doing harm by repealing some or all of the plan.

Now we can see, as we did in the passage of ACA, that we have strength as citizens and as people of faith. 

We will keep watching the next issue - the federal budget - to keep up on cuts to ACA, to Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) or any other budget cuts, transfers, omissions that might impact our health care.  This will include cuts to items that lie outside the operating budget including Medicare and Social Security that have their own accounts but that are targets for cuts nonetheless.

The importance of your advocacy cannot be overstated.  Without your voices and your presence, we would be at high risk of losing health care for middle income to very poor people. We won this dispute. We will help you stay on top of new developments.  This is not over. We will be called once again we're sure.

Thank you for all you do for justice!

0 Comments

Separation of Church and State at immediate risk - Preserve the Johnson Amendment today!

7/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dear Friends:

We hope you were able to join us on the Webinar jointly sponsored by California Council of Churches and California Association of Nonprofits.

The preservation of the "Johnson Amendment" passed in 1954 to preserve both church and state, holds that churches may not endorse partisan candidates.  This is a great good for faith communities keeping them immune from the political fray and upholding their tax exempt status.

However, there are forces at large that want pastors to endorse from the pulpit. But think how corrupt that will be.  Donors can enrich the church and get a tax deduction, all just for the pastor to endorse a particular candidate.  And what if some in the congregation want someone else? They would have no say.  The entire congregation could be held hostage to whoever has the greatest donation that would influence endorsements.

TOMORROW July 13 House Appropriations is reviewing Section 116 of the Budget to slide revocation of the Johnson Amendment into law.

We must OPPOSE Section 116 as the start of a slippery slope to creating a nightmare of partisanship within our congregations and in all non-profit organizations.

Our allies at California Nonprofits are making it easy for you to express your opposition. Information on the issue and on Section 116 is on their web site with a place for you to sign on to express your opposition.  The California members of the Appropriations Committee are also listed with their Washington DC phone numbers. 

Here is the link:  http://calnonprofits.org/publications/article-archive/539-urgent-action-needed-on-johnson-amendment

Of course you may also call your specific House member via the Capitol Swiotchboard, 202-224-3121. 

The vote in Appropriations is at 7 am Eastern Time tomorrow, so please call today!  Keeping church and state separate has benefitted both church and state - this is not the time to change our laws that undermine that critical Constitutional principles.

Thank you!

0 Comments

Reminder: Free webinar on separation of church and state tomorrow, July 12. Join us!

7/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dear Friends:

We are sending a reminder about a very important webinar you may want to do with us tomorrow, July 12 at 10 am Pacific Time.

One crucial and under-scrutinized component of President Trump's tax reform package concerns the Johnson Amendment, which guarantees that nonprofits — including churches and religious organizations — cannot endorse candidates for election.

This law, named after then-Senator Lyndon Johnson and signed by President Eisenhower, protects nonprofits from being pressured by donors to support particular candidates in any election. (Nonprofits can take positions on propositions, but not on candidates.)

On Wednesday, July 12th at 10AM  (PDT), CalNonprofits and the California Council of Churches will be presenting a fast-paced webinar to educate church and nonprofit members, staff, and board members about who supports and who opposes repeal of the Johnson Amendment, and what the arguments are on each side.

We’re pleased that the National Council of Nonprofits — which is tracking the issue closely in Washington — will be on hand to explain the specifics of the Johnson Amendment and give an up-to-the-minute status report.

Key topics:
• What is the Johnson Amendment and why is it so important to the nonprofit community?
• What are the various groups supporting and opposing repeal, and what are their reasons?
• What are the projections for whether repeal will succeed?
• What steps are nonprofits, religious organizations and foundations taking?

Speakers:
Nancy Berlin, Policy Director, CalNonprofits
Rev.Dr. Rick Schlosser, Executive Director, The California Council of Churches
David L. Thompson, Vice President of Public Policy, National Council of Nonprofits
Tiffany L. Gourley, State Policy Counsel, National Council of Nonprofits

To register for this important webinar as either a Cal Nonprofit member or non-member, please click here

We hope you will join us for the important and timely look at an issue critical to us all.

Thank you!

0 Comments

    Author

    The Rev Dr Rick Schlosser

    Archives

    September 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    February 2013
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    Civil Rights
    Economic Justice
    Elections
    Environmental Justice
    Faithful Fridays
    Health Care
    Racism
    Reproductive Rights
    Women's Rights

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from ProComKelly