Daniel Haas

This is why the government doesn’t work. Oh, but the filibuster is a tradition, we couldn’t possibly get rid of it! It’s a political tool. It’s minority rule, and we should sue the senate every time they use it. #AbolishTheFilibuster #IndependenceDay2022 pic.twitter.com/P5Tlel8Lvt

— Moon Butler ? (@ShmelleyAnn) July 4, 2022

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

Declaration of Independence

Every Fourth, I post a brief reflection on how the Declaration speaks into current events. This year, I am guided by “the consent of the governed.” In recent years, the Supreme Court has practically set law by precedent, like OBERGEFELL v. HODGES. Most recently, they overturned precedent by eliminating ROE v. WADE. This is not what the Declaration envisioned:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

Declaration of Independence

There has been a steady decline in legislation passed by Congress. In the 1970s, Congress passed 700-800 laws per year, in the 1980s, the numbers went down to 600-700. The 1990s saw a drop to 400-500 new laws per year and since 2000, only 300-400. In short, Congress’s powers are cut in half! One main reason are impasses created by the filibuster rule in the Senate. The requirement to obtain a 3/5 majority for most legislation is akin to King George III. refusing his assent to the laws of the colonies. Declare Independence from the Filibuster!

19 elementary students, two teachers, one 18-year-old, and one grandma – all dead in Texas, just hours after I flew with my three kids and wife out of Houston.

Everybody has an opinion on how and why this happened. They raise topics like gun control, mental health, school security and what not. The bottom line is: America doesn’t know why gun violence happens because it doesn’t want to know!

In 1993, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an article by Arthur Kellerman and colleagues, “Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home,” which presented the results of research funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence

When serious research into guns being life-threating was catching steam, what did America do? – We could have taken it serious and explored more: How are shootings happening and why? What contributes to them? What could reduce the number of instances and fatalities? But instead, America chose to make sure that research is not happening:

“none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence

So the bottom line is this: America truly does not know what to do against gun violence. That is an act of willful ignorance that gets children killed!

I wrote another piece for the United Church of Christ’s Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD) Blog. The simple, well-intended question “How are you doing, pastor?” needs a lot of parsing. Hopefully, this more detailed look at what clergy persons are dealing with can be helpful for congregations, pastor relations committees, church councils, committees on ministry, and ultimately pastors themselves.

Drinking is up 60% during the pandemic. How do we promote systemic change on all levels of the church that reduces our contribution to alcohol abuse? Shaming is not the answer, neither is permissiveness. Read more in my latest piece for the UCC Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data. If you are experiencing a lack of control around drinking, it might be beneficial to check your spiritual needs:

Today is a historic day for our country. Because beginning this morning, nearly all working families started receiving their first tax cut payment from the Child Tax Credit of up to $300 per child.

Help is here with the American Rescue Plan.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 15, 2021

We received some extra cash from the IRS this month. I had to move it into savings right away, because in our situation the new advances are not really advantageous. Getting cash in parents’s hands is a good idea for the country and for people who we actually need that extra cash for necessities now. I fully support the program. But for my family it comes out the same as the Trump administration’s payroll tax holiday: we get an advance now but have to pay it back next year. Here is why: we prepay our estimated taxes and the old child tax credit was calculated into those quarterly payments. Now we get more per kid which is a direct cash benefit. But we will not be able to use the deduction in our 2021 tax return because we are already receiving the cash now. The only way to protect from that liability is to move the child tax credit payments to savings right away so they are available on April 15, 2022 when the IRS wants the money back.