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Quote of the Day. "The real impact of these cuts is on families. Parents are forced to find makeshift care, one day with a neighbor, one day with an aunt, in order to get to work." William Eddy, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care, on the effect of cutting child care subsidies. (USA Today)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Vatican extends a hand to disgruntled Anglicans “In a remarkable bid to attract disillusioned members of the Anglican Communion, the Vatican announced Tuesday that it is establishing a special arrangement that will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while preserving their liturgy and spiritual heritage, including married priests.” Vatican Bidding to Get Anglicans to Join Its Fold "In an extraordinary bid to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican said Tuesday that it would make it easier for Anglicans uncomfortable with their church’s acceptance of female priests and openly gay bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining many of their traditions.”

Catholic Campaign for Human Development aims collection at economic crisis “The Collection, which has as its theme ‘Families are struggling. Faith is Calling,’ will be held in most Catholic parishes the weekend of November 21-22.” 

Fear Not: Ethicists say blessed is he who thinks before forwarding “Blessed are they who hit the ‘delete’ key instead of ‘forward’ when it comes to mean-spirited e-mails of questionable veracity, several Christian ethicists suggested.”

NEWS AT HOME

Health Care. Liberals increase pressure for public insurance plan in health bill “Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid is facing intensifying pressure from liberal lawmakers to revive a proposed government insurance plan before health-care reform legislation reaches the Senate floor, amid signs that moderate Democrats may be warming to the idea.” Senate Democrats Hit Snag With Doctor Payment Bill “In the face of solid Republican opposition, Senate Democrats on Tuesday backed down from their effort to increase Medicare payments to doctors without offsetting any of the cost over the next 10 years.” White House relies on core healthcare team “President Obama’s overhaul hinges on six crucial individuals and their skill at negotiating behind closed doors. Now Rahm Emanuel, Nancy-Ann DeParle and the others will see if their efforts pay off.”

Poverty Formula. New formula shows more living in poverty “A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations shows that about 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government’s official figure.”

College Tuition. Recession drives up college tuition nationwide “Tackling severe budget problems, four-year public colleges in the U.S. raised annual tuition and fees by an average 6.5%, to $7,020 this fall, the board found in its annual survey. That figure does not include room, board and other expenses.”

Wages. Wage stagnation is another side effect of recession “Compensation so far in 2009 has been cut by the largest amount in nearly two decades, with a government index of real average weekly earnings down 1.9 percent since its high point last December. And the average workweek – now down to 33 hours – is the shortest on modern record.”

Immigration. San Francisco Alters When Police Must Report Immigrants “The San Francisco board of supervisors voted Tuesday to overturn a city policy that has been at the center of a national debate over offering illegal immigrants sanctuary.” Hispanic Immigrants’ Children Fall Behind Peers Early, Study Finds “The children of Hispanic immigrants tend to be born healthy and start life on an intellectual par with other American children, but by the age of 2 they begin to lag in linguistic and cognitive skills.”

Death Penalty. Democrats running for Texas governor signal support for death penalty “Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer said Tuesday that he still supports the death penalty but believes that the process needs more scrutiny.” One Reporter’s Lonely Beat, Witnessing Executions “Of all the consequences of shrinking newsrooms, one of the oddest is this: Fewer journalists are available to watch people die. But Michael Graczyk has witnessed more than 300 deaths, and many of those were people he had come to know.”

Afghanistan Policy. U.S. deeply split on troop increase for Afghan war “As President Obama and his war cabinet deliberate a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether he should send 40,000 more troops there, and public approval of the president’s handling of the situation has tumbled.”

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Afghanistan. With New Afghan Vote, Path to Stability Is Unclear “President Hamid Karzai’s concession of the need for a runoff election in Afghanistan appears to have prevented his country from slipping into paralysis, but has created a new landscape of risks and uncertainty.” Afghanistan’s Karzai accepted runoff election only after hours of tense talks “After nearly 20 hours of tense, exhausting talks over four days, Sen. John F. Kerry was convinced by midday Tuesday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had accepted the need for a runoff election.” Karzai rival backs Afghan run-off “Abdullah Abdullah, the Afghan presidential candidate, has agreed to a run-off vote on November 7 with Hamid Karzai, the incumbent president.”

Pakistan. Attack shuts all Pakistan schools “All schools and universities have been closed across Pakistan a day after suicide bombers attacked an Islamic university in the capital, Islamabad.” Taliban retakes town as Pakistan offensive runs into trouble “Taliban guerrillas recaptured the birthplace of the Pakistani Taliban leader from the Pakistani army and inflicted the heaviest casualties yet in Pakistan’s high-stakes offensive in South Waziristan.” Pakistan Finds Local Allies Against Ferocious Foe “As Pakistani soldiers fought their way into the forbidding heartland of the Mehsud tribal territory on Tuesday against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, they faced the most ferocious fighters in Pakistan, men whose ancestors were legendary for never succumbing to the British.”

Israel. Deputy PM to Haaretz: Israel must probe Gaza war “Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor thinks Israel should establish its own independent committee to investigate Israel Defense Forces activity in the Gaza Strip during last winter’s Operation Cast Lead.” Israel joins US for defence drill “Israel and the US are due to begin a two-week military defence exercise, thought to be the largest of its kind.” Israel push to change laws of war “Israel’s prime minister has instructed his government to draw up plans for a ‘world wide campaign’ to lobby for changes in the international laws of war.”

Iran. Iran nuclear fuel deal ‘agreed’  “Iran and three world powers have been handed a draft agreement aimed at reducing international concerns over Tehran’s nuclear programme.” Draft deal reached on Iran’s nuclear program, IAEA says “The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said today that Iran and three world powers have a draft deal to help allay concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program.”

Climate Change. As Time Runs Short for Global Climate Treaty, Nations May Settle for Interim Steps “With the clock running out and deep differences unresolved, it now appears that there is little chance that international climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December will produce a comprehensive and binding new treaty on global warming.” India provides new hope for climate deal “India’s climate change policy was in turmoil yesterday as its Environment Minister admitted that he had made a proposal to adjust the country’s position that caps on greenhouse gases should apply only to rich countries.”

Brazil. Violence in the Newest Olympic City Rattles Brazil “Suddenly, the celebration has been overwhelmed by hand-wringing that Rio’s chronic drug violence, its Achilles’ heel, is being laid bare before the world, and at a particularly inopportune time.”

OPINION

My mission — and motivation (Richard Goldstone, The Jerusalem Post) “Five weeks after the release of the Report of the Fact Finding Mission on Gaza, there has been no attempt by any of its critics to come to grips with its substance. It has been fulsomely approved by those whose interests it is thought to serve and rejected by those of the opposite view.” 

Sojourners’ Daily Digest is a compilation of the top news related to our commitments of life and peace, economic and racial justice, and care of creation, with a special focus on news of the engagement of faith in public life.