The latest news on Health Care, Financial Reform, Rural Elderly, College Dropouts, Afghanistan, Climate Change, Iraq, Honduras, and Select Op-Eds.

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Quote of the Day. "This triple whammy of forces made it riskier for would-be homebuyers to find financing, would-be sellers to receive good value for their home and potential long-distance movers to find employment in areas where jobs were previously plentiful," William Frey, Brookings Institution, on the effect of the housing collapse, the credit crisis, and the recession as the reasons fewer Americans are moving. (Washington Post)

FAITH IN THE NEWS

Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths “The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions.” Mixing their RELIGION “Elements of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking have been widely adopted by 65% of U.S. adults, including many who call themselves Protestants and Catholics.”

Evangelicals, Faith Leaders Push Green Cause at Copenhagen “Prominent evangelical leaders along with representatives of other religions are attending the United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen this week, where they aim to persuade global leaders to support cuts in carbon emissions.”

Museum racing to name every victim of Holocaust “Motivated by the principle that "every victim has a name," Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum has identified nearly 4 million Jews who lost their lives to Nazi Germany's genocide and is trying to identify the rest while survivors are still alive.”

NEWS AT HOME

Nobel Prize. Accepting Peace Prize, Obama Evokes ‘Just War’ “President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize here on Thursday, acknowledged the age-old tensions between war and peace but argued that his recent decision to escalate the conflict in Afghanistan was justified to protect the world from terrorism and extremism.” War president addresses incongruity of accepting peace prize “In his acceptance speech, Obama directly confronted the seeming paradox of receiving the prestigious peace prize while serving as a war president. In trying to pursue both security and peace, he said, 'war is sometimes necessary.'" Text of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech

Health Care. Senate Democrats largely support health-care deal that drops public option “Senate Democrats on Wednesday largely embraced a compromise that dropped a 'public option' from health-care legislation, setting aside their concerns about aspects of the consensus plan in the hopes that the deal hatched by negotiators would serve as a rallying point in their push for the passage of reforms.” Senate Democrats See Room for Hope on Health Care Bill "Senate Democrats said on Wednesday that they were not sure exactly what was in a deal that the majority leader said would surmount a disagreement over a proposed government-run health plan.” White House Pins Hopes on Senate's Deal “President Barack Obama on Wednesday endorsed a Senate Democratic compromise that backed away from a big government-run health plan, calling the idea a 'creative framework' that could propel a health bill to passage.” With tentative deal, hopes grow for health care overhaul “Hopes grew Wednesday for Senate passage of a historic restructuring of the nation's health insurance system, as key lawmakers praised and President Barack Obama endorsed a tentative deal to get the stalled bill moving.”

Financial Reform. Democrats in Disarray Over Bank Rules “The House Democratic effort to overhaul regulation of the nation’s financial system ran into new internal resistance Wednesday, demonstrating the difficult balancing act the party faces in trying to shape rules to prevent a repeat of last year’s financial crisis.” Centrist, Conservative Democrats delay financial reform debate "A group of centrist and conservative House Democrats forced a last-minute delay of a sweeping financial regulatory reform package scheduled for debate on the House floor Wednesday, sparking a flurry of negotiations before a compromise cleared the way for the legislation to move forward."

Jobs. Obama's jobs package draws fire from left and right "As President Obama began selling his new jobs package, he was pressed Wednesday from both the left and the right, with Republicans warning about ballooning deficits and black lawmakers seeking bolder action on an unemployment rate that approaches 16% for African Americans." Black lawmakers, Obama split on minority job help "The Congressional Black Caucus and President Barack Obama are at loggerheads over what to do about African-American unemployment, which is higher than the national average and has reached nearly 50 percent among teens.”

Rural Elderly. For Elderly in Rural Areas, Times Are Distinctly Harder "Growing old has never been easy. But in isolated, rural spots like this, it is harder still, especially as the battering ram of recession and budget cuts to programs for the elderly sweep through many local and state governments.”

College Dropouts. College Dropouts Cite Low Money and High Stress “Most dropouts leave college because they have trouble going to school while working to support themselves, according to a report released Wednesday by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research group.”

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Afghanistan. Petraeus says U.S. will expand counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan war "The United States will step up its counterterrorism activities in Afghanistan as part of President Obama's new strategy as it seeks to 'kill or capture' insurgents outside densely populated areas and those deemed unlikely to change sides." Petraeus Warns of a Long and Expensive Mission in Afghanistan "America's involvement in Afghanistan could stretch on for years and cost upward of $10 billion annually just to finance an adequate Afghan security force, the overall commander in the region told Congress on Wednesday.” US success in Afghanistan 'will not be quick' “Testifying before the US Congress, Gen David Petraeus said, as in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan was 'likely to get harder before it gets easier.'”

Climate Change. Poor nations attack UK plan to raid aid funds “National aid budgets dedicated to reducing global poverty would be raided to establish a 'climate fund' to help developing countries to adapt to climate change, under a British plan tabled yesterday in Copenhagen. Money earmarked for education or health would be diverted into projects such as solar panels and wind farms.” U.S. Negotiator Dismisses Reparations for Climate “The top American envoy to climate talks here flatly rejected arguments Wednesday by diplomats from poor lands that the United States owes a debt to developing nations for decades of American emissions that contributed to global warming.” U.S. sends a parade of promises to Copenhagen “Obama dispatches a slew of Cabinet-level secretaries, advisors and envoys to prove to world leaders that the U.S. is serious about combating climate change. His own assurances might carry more weight.”

Iraq. Iraq PM orders security reshuffle “Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has reshuffled the leadership of the country's security forces, in the wake of a series of deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad.” Iraq’s Other Security Threat: Politics “After months of wrangling over an election law, fighting spurred by deep ethnic divisions, the public has come to view security as little more than an extension of politics.”

Iran. Amnesty condemns Iranian 'abuses' “Human rights in Iran are as poor as at any time over the past 20 years, according to a report from campaign group Amnesty International. The report details 'patterns of abuse' by the regime before and after disputed presidential elections in June.”

Honduras. Zelaya's Honduras exit 'aborted' “The de facto government of Honduras has said that plans for Manuel Zelaya, the country's deposed president, to leave the Honduran capital for Mexico have been put on hold.”

OPINION

Don't kill reform over the public option (Editorial, Los Angeles Times) “We'd like to see Congress approve a public option because it could be a powerful force in improving the way healthcare is delivered and financed, but we don't think the overall package should be held up over it. And opponents of a strong public option -- including every Senate Republican and half a dozen Democrats -- have shown that they're willing to kill the bill over that issue alone.”

How to Mend Fences With Pakistan (Asif Alizardari, president of Pakistan, New York Times) “Now that President Obama has recommitted the United States to stand with Pakistan and Afghanistan in our common fight against terrorism, extremism and fanaticism, it would be useful for Americans and Pakistanis to consider what has brought us to this point -- and what the conflict’s true endgame must be.”

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.

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.