"The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America. As Ronald Reagan’s own budget director said, there’s nothing “serious” or “courageous” about this plan. There’s nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. There’s nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don’t have any clout on Capitol Hill. And this is not a vision of the America I know."
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Barack Obama in his deficit reduction speech today.
Also, check out Jonathan Cohn’s summary and analysis: “Obama Makes His Stand.”
"I think that people at the high end — people like myself — should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we’ve ever had it."
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— Warren Buffett, the 2nd richest man in the U.S.
I had to look this quote up after Politifact confirmed that the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half the U.S. population (155 million) combined.
I think I can say with confidence that none of those 400 are public school teachers.
"Above all we must turn our eyes to the image of Jesus Christ’s own body - the one who became human, was crucified, and is risen. In the body of Christ, God is united with humankind, all humanity is accepted by God, and the world is reconciled to God… THERE IS NO PART OF THE WORLD, NO MATTER HOW LOST, NO MATTER HOW GODLESS, THAT HAS NOT BEEN ACCEPTED BY GOD IN JESUS CHRIST AND RECONCILED TO GOD. Whoever perceives the body of Jesus Christ in faith can no longer speak of the world as if it were lost, as if it were separated from God; they can no longer separate themselves in clerical pride from the world… It is nothing but unbelief to give the world… less than Christ. It means denying the body of Christ."
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From Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics page 67 (CAPS are mine to add emphasis)
We read a couple of chapters of Bonhoeffer’s Ethics for Guillermo Hansen’s Systematic Theology course. Today was our last class… I am grateful for the class and Professor Hansen today.
Advent is breaking in on me a bit this year… I connect this Bonhoeffer quote to the season.
"One time on Hollywood Boulevard I saw a young girl with a baby. It was a crisp winter morning & her hair shone dark purple in the sun. She was panhandling outside the Holiday Inn & the door clerk came out & told her to be on her way & I wondered if anyone would recognize the Christ child if they happened to meet. I remember thinking it’s not like there are any published pictures & purple seemed like a good color for a Madonna so I gave her a dollar just in case."
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Purple Madonna from Story People.
Christ is coming!
