The Christian Left

HHS move amounts to 'to hell with you,' bishop says as protests mount

2012-01-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

HHS move amounts to 'to hell with you,' bishop says as protests mount by Nancy Frazier O'Brien of the Catholic News Service (an arm of the USCCB)

Spare us the historionics. Health insurance benefits are earned, not a matter of largesse. They belong to the employees, not the employer, and the impact of covering birth control on the cost of the insurance is minimal.

The contention that birth control destroys a human life is far fetched and not in line with the natural sciences, which indicate that the energy that ends at death and protects against entropy throughout life by guiding development, does not and cannot start until gastrulation, which occurs after implantation. Preventing implantation does not, therefore, end life, merely potential life. As for the impact on birth control on sexual relations, the sexual relations of employees are plainly none of the bishop's business.

The only leg the bishops have to stand on in resisting birth control is in affirming that birth control should not be necessary in society because workers should be paid a just and living wage with the birth of each child, however that matter has nothing to do with health insurance coverage but the mortally sinful payment policies of the Catholic Church.

The Big Game Cometh

2012-01-23T20:46:00.003-05:00

It is now that time again - my annual pre-Big Game rankings of what's at stake as far as all-time rankings. As people who follow this blog know, I count both Big Game victories, conference championships and league champships since an actual championship game has been played. Prior to the first such game, the league championship was based on win-loss records, essentially a division championship. To include those championships, one would also have to count all division championships in subsequent years as a "win." Others can do that, however unless someone pays me to do so and gives me a really good data file, I am not going to that kind of effort, especially since my current database includes year by year rankings so that you can follow the history of who was top ranked - although after a few decades this gets mind numbing to even look at.

That being said, I have two sets of rankings. The first stresses the number of wins in championship games, with ties broken by winning percentage. The second stresses the number of appearances, with ties broken by the number that resulted in wins. The reason I do separate stats is because the League ranks its all time greatest list by win-loss percentage in the last game, ignoring the fact that what was the league is now the conference - with conference championships still meriting a trophy. By their logic, an expansion team becomes the greatest team ever by winning the Big Game once. That is insane, but given that the alignment of divisions is geographically challenged, it is not unexpected.

Here is the first set of ranks. Click on the image to expand the table.

Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Dallas are safe in the one, two and three spots. New York is in number four and New England is at number five after last Sunday's game. This is a change, as these wins have moved them both past Washingon and San Francisco, who were tied for fourth at ten wins and seven losses. By losing yesterday, San Francisco moves down to seventh, while Washington moves to sixth by not losing. Baltimore dropped down from 21 to 22 by losing if you accept the fiction that they left their previous record in Cleveland with their name, even though there is continuity of personnel and ownership that indicates otherwise. If they have to leave their record, then they need to be given the prior record of a certain team in Indiana who used to be located there.

The winner of the Big Game will move to fourth greatest overall. New York currently has eleven wins and twelve losses in championship games, while New England has ten wins and five losses. A New England will give them eleven wins with fewer losses, moving them to the number four slot. A New York win gives them twelve wins - one behind Dallas who has thirteen.

For those of you who think being in the championship is more important than winning it, we have the second ranking:

New York, by showing up, will move to number two overall, with 24 total appearances. The conference championship was their 23rd appearance, tying with Pittsburgh but with fewer victories, leaving them in third position for the next 13 days until they walk into the stadium (moving Pittsburgh to third, even if New York loses. Dallas will still have more wins, even though they also have 24 appearances - so New York must go to one more champship game to get to the top spot (if they play Dallas, they have to win to overtake them).

New England was already in the tenth spot, with 14 appearances and nine wins, which is one more win than Denver and Indianapolis who are tied at eleven. Had Denver won last week, they would have passed New England. On game day, by showing up, New England moves up to ninth with 16 appearances, which is the same as Chicago, but Chicago has only nine wins, so New England already holds the tie breaker.

I prefer counting wins as more important than appearances, with winning percentage breaking the tie. This year shows why, since if appearances are more important, the result of this year's Big Game will mean nothing in the overall rankings, which is a bit anti-climactic.

Vatican Insider on RCs & the Death Penalty

2012-01-06T00:42:00.000-05:00

Vatican Insider on RCs & the Death Penalty
by MSW

My response: It is not enough to abolish the death penalty. Life without parole must also be abolished, as it is essentially the death penatly by different means. Indeed, the use of prison instead of rehabilitative mental health care flies in the face of basic Christian charity, which requires forgiveness to be forgiven. That being said, what the Holy Father does not understand is that if a convict cannot be reached therapeutically, the most humane option for both the convict and the society is to euthanize him witout fanfare, not as punishment, but for public safety. Last I checked, one of the duties of the sovereign, which is all of us, is the protection of the weak from the dangerous. This, by the way, is why abortion is legal as well - because some pregnancies are dangerous, or would be if abortion were self-induced or performed without licensed care givers. Guilt or innocence is God's to decide. Society must judge danger.

Bishop Zavala & Celibacy

2012-01-06T00:18:00.000-05:00

Bishop Zavala & Celibacy by MSW

My response: The reason the orthodox have a two track system for married men who stay priests and unmarried men who can become bishops (and you can't marry after ordination) was because they did not want the children of bishops inheriting Church property. That can be avoided by abandoning a feudal personal ownership model for church property and institutions and joining the 21st century. Then both bishops and priests can marry and have kids.

More importantly, priestly celibacy must be abandoned because of the way it affects how the Church teaches about sex in the culture. While the kingdom of God is not of this world, it is IN this world. We don't obey sexual norms to get to heaven but to make life bearable - and when those norms make life unbearable they can't be from God and cannot be the result of natural law reasoning. Indeed, celibacy in the Latin rite has, in its origins, ideas on Continence that are offensive to married people and to womanhood in general that must be abandoned for their own sake. There is nothing incompatible with celebrating conjugal love and the Eucharist on the same day - and anyone holding to a belief otherwise should not be allowed to teach about sexuality or sexual ethics. Indeed, such a view is responsible for the warped clericalist views on contraception and unitive love and resistence to accepting homosexuality in a loving marital relationship.

Payroll Tax Cuts & Third Rails

2012-01-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

Payroll Tax Cuts & Third Rails by Michael Sean Winters

My response:

The new third rail for Republican politicians is keeping capital gains and dividend taxes low, where they currently sit at 15%, rates they wish to make permanent. There would be some justification for doing that if there were also a Value Added Tax.

The current economic depression has taken the wind out of the sails for Social Security personal accounts, at least if they are invested in Wall Street index funds. There is an argument for investing them in your employer, provided that each employee gets the same number of shares, which would come from the employer.

As for the payroll tax holiday, what matters is not so much is that the stimulus come from this tax, but that it come from some tax. A better sweetener would be to let this tax expire and instead increase the child tax credit and make it refundable for everyone, since families are most likely to spend the money. Rick Santorum is currently the only candidate who proposes anything like this, as he would triple the child exemption - which in the political process may get turned into a higher child tax credit.

Rick Santorum’s Tax Plan

2012-01-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

Rick Santorum’s Tax Plan by Howard Gleckman

I am still troubled that you wait until he has supporters to score his plan. In the pursuit of both truth and solutions, any good idea - and bad idea - should be scored - especially if it gives good solutions more exposure than they would otherwise get. While it is true that Santorum likely won't win the nomination and certainly not the general election, his ideas should still be scored because they add to the debate.

I agree with his approach of funding families more through the tax code, although the exemption for children and EITC should be merged to a larger refundable Child Tax Credit. Generally, his plan for more tax benefits for families is in line with his pro-life beliefs.

It seems that some of his proposals, like the expensing of equipment right away, might work as a transition to consumption taxes. A good consumption tax regimine combined with a surtax on high income might not be as much of a revenue loser, especially if the Democrats retain enough power in the Senate to force concessions and the anti-compromise/anti-fact members of the Tea Party are banished from Congress by the voters.

Holding all things in our hearts

2012-01-02T09:44:00.000-05:00

Holding all things in our hearts by Patricia Datchuck Sanchez. My response:

The signifant thing about this passage is that it hints at the source of Jesus knowledge about himself - that it was not simply from the fact that he was full of grace, which he did have - or because he had a full share of the divine mind (which he did not have prior to his resurrection) - but because Mary told him of these things, causing him to search the scriptures for confirmation and believe, which is more meritorious than knowing. When he suffered on the cross and gave care of his mother to John, he was in a way rejecting this belief, which led to his psychic crushing when he cried out to God in anguish, which is the real instrument of our salvation, much as his taking of the fruit of the vine is a sign that he and we had entered the Father's kingdom.

Heading for the Hawkeye State

2011-12-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

Heading for the Hawkeye State by MSW

My response:

Kerry's win was no surprise. The DNC decided he was going to win a lot sooner than Iowa. The reason no one is going after Romney is because they can count delegates and read fundraising reports. They want to have a chance at the VP nod. As for abortion, are you saying that Barack Obama is more pro-life in practice than is Mitt Romney? That is an interesting development.

On end of life, I doubt that removing a feeding tube from a child rises to gubernatorial decisionmaking. As for Schaivo, the Florida Catholic Conference originally sided with her husband, finding a feeding tube is an extraordinary measure. She is not like a declining cancer patient - she was incompletely resuccitated and efforts to revive her should have been ended sooner. Nowadays, using hypothermia as part of the process, she might have both lived and woken up. This issue should never have been demagogued by self-serving pro-lifers.

Newt was on a book tour until his wife got designs on the East Wing. He will be out of the race shortly.

Santorum made his career campaigning on policy positions outside the sphere of legislation. Abortion is in the realm of constitutional law and his partial birth abortion law was not designed to be enforced, but to try to change the status quo - something Bush appointees Alito and Roberts declined to do - which shows why abortion is not an electoral issue. The courts are about to make gay marriage a national right - and barring a constitutional convention to overturn it, will be settled law soon. Still, he has a shot of picking up Paul, Gingrich, Bachmann and Perry castoffs, though he will likely falter after South Carolina.

Ron Paul's doctrinaire supporters may alienate his casual supporters, causing them to flee to either Romney or Santorum. Perry won't attack Romney, since he can do the math on who Romney is most likely to pick to shore up his strength in the South - and its not Newt (who can't be counted on to behave) or the publicly Catholic Santorum.

I suspect football and parties will probably take up most people's time, although the Sunday morning news programs will likely focus on Iowa.

Bishop Aquila's Outrageous Statement

2011-12-23T16:03:00.000-05:00

Bishop Aquila's Outrageous Statement by Michael Sean Winters.

My response:

Someone needs to inform the Bishop that Hitler considered himself a faithful Catholic. He was not an atheist. He delusionally believed he was the Great Catholic Monarch whose line would rule in Christ's name for a thousand years of peace. I suspect Rick Perry is laboring under the evangelical equivalent of this delusion.

Someone also needs to tell him that secularism and atheism are not the same thing. Secularism means that society is not subject to the dictates of Christendom, which allows the Church to veto the actions of Catholic kings and princes or declare them unfit to rule. Christendom is not compatible in a constitutional republic, where the divine right to rule comes from the free will of voters rather than the dictates of the Church.

Atheism should make the Bishop uncomfortable. Modern atheists justify their position in part from abuses of power by the hierarchy. All bishops should pay attention to what they say and change their behavior accordingly, especially before telling us how to vote.

The Event of Christmas

2011-12-23T09:34:00.000-05:00

The Event of Christmas by Michael Sean Winters

My response:

To do the New Evangelization, the Bishops must first reestablish its teaching credibility, which requires new ventures in humility that I don't see some of them making. Even now, there is resistance to the Dallas norms and some bishops reject Faithful Citizenship as not binding on them, nor the determination not to use the Body of Christ as a political weapon. Seeking a conscience right not available to other employers is also not a move which inspires confidence in the messengers, unless you are seeking a New Evangelization based on the threat of Hell.

As to the signifance of the Infancy narrative, the key verse in the entire story is that Mary treasured all these things and saved them in her heart and how this relates to how Jesus understood his divinity and how this relates to the story of salvation. Understanding how Jesus experienced these events as a person, rather than as an icon, is key to an adult understanding of both these events and morality as a whole. I don't believe that the bishops are ready to take this step either.

Be that as it may, Happy Christmas! There is hope in the engagement over the New Evangelization - with the Spirit working in ways that the Bishops cannot contain, and should not try to.

New Data from Pew

2011-12-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

New Data from Pew by Michael Sean Winters

It is amazing that Santorum, who is promoting his Catholicism, is still stuck at 2 percent. White evangelical/Tea Party voters have less influence in the nomination process than they did in 2010. What has changed is that there is no John McCain in the race. If Newt becomes the new Huckabee (and I don't think he is working hard enough to do that good), who get's the McCain cross-overs? I don't think it will be Newt.

That still leaves Mitt. He will keep his 2008 base and with the McCain voters, should clean up. He may need some Evangelical ticket balancing, which keeps Newt out when people start paying attention to his conversion. Its a long time until August. Primaries are not just about poll support. They are about mobiliizing party infrastructure. Getting the grass roots to give you money with a hot button fundraising letter is not the same thing as getting the support of state party elites.

HHS, Plan B & Scientism

2011-12-09T01:58:00.000-05:00

HHS, Plan B & Scientism by Michael Sean Winters

My response: I don't see the FDA as promoting scientism so much as professionalism, however we have civilian control of the Uniformed Public Health Service for the same reason we have civilian control of the uniformed military services. Secretary Sebelius charge is the public health, not the public morals and it is OK with me that she brought her experience as a mother and a woman to her job. There are no other implications.

She was not swayed by some Catholic Illuminati nor by the need to even things up with the Church regarding their desire for conscience protections for the bishops but not Catholics doctors, employees, patients or students. If she had been, she would have been bowing to some impulse of Christendom, where direction from the hierarchy trumps her obligation to discharge the public good using her best judgment. If she had done this for a quid pro quo to go back to the communion rail, then she would have to resign and the Papal Nuncio would have to be expelled.

I can also see the other side. If Plan B would prevent an abortion (it is not the same thing as one - life begins at gastrulation, not fertilization), then it is better than putting a 13 year old in the position of getting one or in facing parents who may prove less than understanding. There is also the possibility a relative fathered the child and the trauma of revelation adds yet more pressure - adding a risk of suicide - or that the parent is the father. Sometimes, feminists speak in the best interest of the child.

Finally, any decision the under 17 child makes as a parent is their right, not the right of their child. Allowing Plan B follows that legality.

Reflections on the readings for Dec 8

2011-12-09T00:57:00.000-05:00

Some stray thoughts from today's Mass readings on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception:

Does a perfect God care if we are justified (and would such a God be perfect) or is the moral of the Jesus story that God reaches out to us because we cannot reach out to him. One can look again at the Fall story and see it not as a decision point but as a test with a foregone conclusion that illustrates rather than expirments. It says something about the nature of man, not the description of a mythical event.

I could easily see this story as part of a larger narrative of an argument of God with Satan, but Satan in the role of tester, not the modern day Zorastrian demon - in an argument over whether any man is worthy of being the instrument of salvation. It would be an interesting play, starting with the casting out of Lucifer from Heaven, going to the garden of Eden, stopping at Job and then ending up with Jesus in the Desert, after Peter urges him to not go to Jerusalem, the crucifixion and the resurrection. The apocolyptically minded may add some later incidents from Revelation, but one wonders how it would end.

Prevenient grace is only necessary if you believe God has feet of clay. One single tinge of grace does not a Holy life make. The Gospel is very clear that the gift to Mary was a lifetime outpouring and relationship between her soul and the Spirit. The Torah reading shows that the original sin was not disobedience, but blame, which the allegory shows well. Grace can't force you to forgive, even previent grace. That is a free choice. The choice becomes whether to accept the forgiveness of the Cross at the cost of granting it ourselves.

Belgian Catholics issue reform manifesto

2011-12-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

Belgian Catholics issue reform manifesto

My comments on their demands:

•Parish leadership be entrusted to trained laypeople;

I would still ordain the lead administrator as a Lay Deacon (no promise of celibacy), but I would entrust the parish council with more responsibility and strip the other clergy of all control of property

•Communion services be held even if no priest is available;

This goes without saying, although the lay deacon could lead it.

•Laypeople be allowed to preach;

See lay deacon above

•Divorced people be allowed to receive Communion;

They should be now - it is only remarriage without an annulment when receiving communion is discouraged - although this should be changed with divorce allowed with remarriage if one spouse either abused the other physically or sexually or was otherwise dangerous (for example, if the person was an addict or alcoholic) or if the partner committed adultery. It should be the wronged person's option to remain within the marriage or let it be dissolved - but the offending party who committed adultery should never be allowed to remarry, nor should the dangerous party unless they are in recovery.

•"As quickly as possible, both married men and women be admitted to the priesthood.

That makes sense too.

The New Translation of the Mass - Reforming the Reform

2011-11-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

Today, the Catholic Church in the English speaking world began using a revised translation of the Roman Rite that more closely resembles the idioms in the Latin. After Vatican II, when the English speaking Church began using a vernacular translation, the basis for the translation was to make the concepts understandable to English speakers, translating the meaning rather than simply translating the words. Pope John Paul II, in a reform of the reform, instructed that the translation be revised to reverse this.

Last night, I compared a copy of the new translation to my Loras College Missal, which was written prior to Vatican II. The new translation and the translation for congregants to follow along are not dissimilar. While some prayers have changed - mostly to remove invocations to St. Michael and Saints Peter and Paul, the similarities are surprising - especially in the language used by the priest.

At Mass today, it was easier for the congregation to adjust to the longer prayers (the sung prayers have little participation anyway on the best day). What was the hardest was the response to the prayer "The Lord be with you." The new response, which is actually quite ancient, is "And with your spirit." It was the one that no one got. Whether automatically or intentionally, most of the congregation responded with "And also with you." The reform will be complete when the automatic response becomes "And with your spirit."

When the new/old translation was being implemented, there was a bit of resistance to it, even among some of the bishops - especially with how it was done from the top down. While the bishops adopted it cooperatively, it was pretty much an offer that they could not refuse. This brings up an interesting question on Church governance.

The Roman Catholic Church in America and throughout the English speaking world uses the Roman Rite because our patriarch is the Roman Pontiff. In the Latin Church, all patriarchs are in union with Rome, however there are patriarchates leading other Great Churches in Catholicism which do not. They regard their leader, the Ecumenical Patriarch and Archbishop of New Rome and Constantinople as the first among equals - however they are autocephalous (self-headed). There is no Curia which governs Orthodoxy the way the Pope and his Curia govern the Latin Church. As the existence of Orthodoxy shows, more local control is possible while still remaining Catholic.

The imposition and acceptance of a new translation ultimately must pass the test of popular acceptance. Whether the people accept "and with your spirit" rather than "and also with you" is the acid test. If they do not, they could demand a more "Orthodox" relationship with Rome, with an authentic English Rite and an English speaking patriarch, with or without their own code of Canon Law. While any adoption of such a reform is best done with the permission of Rome, if the people speak with a clear voice and claim that the Lord is truly with them on this, they cannot be denied - especially by a Pope who seems to be making overtures to Constantinople himself. There was an ancient Church, the Church of the Galatians, which were made up of Gallic/Celtic people rather than Latins. It could be officially revived rather than thought of being a new invention.

Of course, the people could simply conform to the new/ancient usages - which do have a certain poetry to them. Whether they do or not is ultimately up to God, not the Pope or the Bishops. I personally like the reform of the reform, just not how it was done. More will be revealed.

The theological implications of "and with your spirit" are also interesting. They invoke a rather Aristotelian/Cartesian world view of the soul controlling the body but being somehow separate from it. This contrasts with both modern neuroscience and the ancient beliefs about the necessity of the bodily resurrection for eternal life. Experiments on perception show that the brain first has a thought before the consciousness perceives it, so our perceptions are best regarded as a reflection of what goes on within our beings rather than our beings themselves. This does not mean we are not free, as some would infer, only that our freedom is tied into a more integrated self. Part of who we are is our brains working rather than being our physical servant. This is actually a reflection of the Trinity. The Father is the Mind and Perfection of God and the Son is the expression or Word of the Father. Taking us back to the Mass, it would seem that "and also with you" may be the more authentic expression of what is happening with the human soul than "and with your spirit," although the latter is more poetic in Latin and English.

Who could have thought that the new translation had implications for neuroscience? This could very well be a learning and teaching moment for the Church if others take up this discussion, which is ripe to have given the debate with the new atheists over just this topic.

Albacete Nails It

2011-11-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

Albacete Nails It by MSW. My comments:

Emphasizing a thread that binds is coming dangerously close to supporting the idea of Christendom, where being a Christian is reduced to being a member of a secret lodge that acts in the interest of the Church without claiming to.

Except for the fact that it might alienate Catholic voters, I am surprised that none of the Catholic's in Democratic governance and politics doesn't read the bishops the riot act about subverting American democracy or laying out some of the flaws in the Church's teaching on such matters as gay marriage, stem cell research/birth control, what the government can and can't do constitutionally about abortion and the attempts by some bishops to subvert American process in a way that borders on sedition.

These comments also ignore the extent to which there are those in Catholic Health and Catholic Charities who ARE in the inner circle of this White House and who do bring in a knowledge of the relatedness between salvation and charity.

On Virgin Martyrdom

2011-11-21T08:33:00.000-05:00

In my prior essays on the “Death of Jesus and It’s Meaning for Us” and “Liberation Morality,” I laid out a moral code that can be best described as Christian Humanism, where the moral law and salvation entirely for human benefit, rather than part of some divine agenda. Given this change, the question arises whether virgin martyrdom makes sense at all. Since Musings from the Christian Left were initially published in 2003, my daughter, to whom they are dedicated, has grown to eight going on eighteen and is in the third grade, so that talk we all dread is just around the corner. Given that she is named for the Virgin Martyr of Alexandria, St. Catherine, her likely questions will have added significance.

The first question to ask is whether virgin martyrdom is still relevant in the modern world? The answer you are likely to get from traditionalists is that virginity is now counter-cultural, however to die in order to make a political statement seems a bit to far for the group dynamics of the Roman Catholic Church. Group loyalty is just not worth dying for in the modern world, unless of course the lives of other group members are at stake.

The whole question of virginity bears examination. Traditionally, it was considered part of family honor to be a virgin as a gift to one’s spouse, especially for females. To not a virgin at your wedding was to dishonor the family as well – and in some parts of the world it still is – usually where women are still regarded as property and marriage is a property transaction between families. It is tragic to love ones child less than one’s position in the community, which is exactly the implication of honor killing. In the modern world, this concept is anathema and should be, as it goes along with ignoring the education of girls. If this were the motive for virgin martyrdom, then it is of no value.

Virginity, to be meaningful, should be a personal gift to one’s spouse, not part of a property transaction. It is part of a holistic view of sexuality as more than just a bodily function, but as a giving of oneself to another. It is part of forming a lasting attachment, which seems to be a natural part of human sexuality – a part that is cheapened with promiscuity. That part can always be reclaimed, however, so the virginity aspect can be thought of another aspect of having ownership of one’s body. In this way, it is an affirmation of individuality, rather than the property of one’s family or faith.

Virgin martyrdom is always in resistance to the attempt to take virginity by force. It is, in essence, resistance to rape – so the virginity aspect matters less and less while the affirmation of self-ownership matters more, especially with a more modern view of sexuality. Virgin martyrdom hence becomes part of the right of any person to say no to the sexual advances of others, whether violent or induced by intoxicants. It is a right that can be claimed by virgins, married women – even against their husbands, prostitutes who have simply had enough and women who are the victims of state-sponsored rape from Bosnia to Darfur.

The urge to rape, whether by violence, by intoxication or as a tool of terrorism, is always an explicit admission of the inadequacy of the rapist. It not only bespeaks an inability to master one’s self, but of deep feelings of inadequacy. The rapist must resort to violence or intoxication out of fear that he is unattractive to a willing and sober partner, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. It is the product of a deep self-loathing.

Rape as part of a terrorist program is an admission that one’s cause is likewise inadequate to be accepted freely. It is an admission that it is not a just cause based on right, but only on the ability to marshal superior, and often, illegitimate force. Use of such force is an implicit admission that the cause of one’s opponent is just and that one’s own cause is pursed in denial of their legitimate rights to peace, land and self-determination.

There is one final aspect of virgin martyrdom that is particularly meritorious. It is why such martyrs have a particular place of honor, regardless of whether the martyr died with virginity intact or not. To resist to the point of death is not just about personal bodily integrity. It is also a witness to faith – not to the group dynamics of church membership, but to the faith that there is something more to life than the present. It is the ultimate response to the rapist – one that says that the real person cannot be touched. Like other forms of martyrdom it is an affirmation of the belief in personal resurrection, eternal life, and for Christians, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As such, it is the ultimate resistance to the evil of the rapist or the dictator and why it will never go out of style, even in the modern world.

Why is our country just not functioning?

2011-09-14T14:44:00.000-04:00

Why is our country just not functioning? by Sister Joan Chittister

My response:

Gore lost because he could not win Ohio and because he did not insist that "double votes" where he was written in and voted for be counted. The recount ignoring double votes still had Bush win. Hillary has only herself to blame for staying out of caucus states - and if you read Game Change - we dodged a bullet.

Obama has indeed messed up on the economy - mostly because he listened to advisors who did not want to do radical things to benefit under water mortgage borrowers - although the Democratic congress was not exactly brimming with compassion for this group either by not enacting bankruptcy reform when it could. As it is, the 111th Congress was the most productive in recent memory even as the 112th is a disappointment.

The 112th has a big problem - leaders who feel vulnerable to primary challenges. If the Republican Party refuses to put the loonies in its place because of this, there is not much we can do about it but hope that their own conduct costs them control of the House, Senate and White House in 2012.

Some of these problems, of course, go back to Reagan and tax policies that incentize productivity gains at the expense of workers who are also consumers. Until those workers decide that enough as enough, they can't be led to something better, like employee ownership of their workplaces and an ousting of the plutocracy. They certainly won't get that from either party and media, like NCR, don't seem particularly eager about covering the alternatives. You need proof? Ask Michael Sean Winters why he does not cover my tax plan.

Does the Gang of Six Cut Taxes or Raise Them?

2011-07-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

Does the Gang of Six Cut Taxes or Raise Them? by Donald Maron

My response: This will only work if the housing industry is ineffective in blocking it. I am not sure why the powers that be think they can do better at this than was done in 1986. The wealthy know a tax increase when they see one, so we might as well raise rates and divert the tax expenditures for mortgage interest and property taxes to an increased child tax credit – which might actually encourage families to have children and thus reverse the aging crisis.

As important is the issue of why we are limiting the plausible baseline change to $1.2 trillion. In the end, the entire process is being undertaken to avoid simply letting the Bush/Obama cuts expire. The President pretty much holds the cards, provided the Democrats in Congress back him. At some point, Democrats may decide they want more in taxes – possibly letting the top 3 rates reset to permanent law, rather than just the top 2.

Guidelines on Women's Health Issued

2011-07-20T13:55:00.001-04:00

Guidelines on Women's Health Issued by Michael Sean Winters

My comments: The reason that the Bishops should have played nicer is to be able to count on the support of liberal Catholics when such issues as this come up. Not sure I feel like backing their play on Ella, although I probably will. However, they are simply wrong on sterilization and contraception - since these work before gastrulation and cannot be considered equivalent to abortion (unlike Ella).

The Church's stance on contraception works best when it sticks to economic empowerment issues for the poor, who should not have to resort to birth control to secure their economic well being. It does not do so well when it takes a stand against contraception that is medically indicated because the woman should not get pregnant. Their suggested practice of natural family planning lessens the power of its economic message and is inadequate to the health needs of women whose lives may be in jeapordy if they become pregnant.

Chaput: The Problem With Culture Warrior Bishops

2011-07-19T15:50:00.000-04:00

Chaput: The Problem With Culture Warrior Bishops by Michael Sean Winters

My response: I suspect Cardinals Law and Burke had a say in this, yet Chaput may well overcome the culture of clericalism left by Rigali and bring reform. How he deals with Bob Casey will be telling on the political front. Unless he understands that Casey has the upper hand in this, he will do damage to himself and wreck any bipartisanship in the pro-life movement.

Obama Makes 11th-Hour Plea for a ‘Big Deal’

2011-07-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

Obama Makes 11th-Hour Plea for a ‘Big Deal’ by Eric Pianin and Jennifer DePaul

Gloom and doom won't cut it when your opponents don't believe you. What they understand is power politics and the way to rub the GOPs noses in it is to say publicly what they fear the most - that without compromise Obama will never sign legislation (nor will the Senate give it 60 votes) extending tax cuts on the rich.

If he really wants action, he should speak glowingly about using the Constitutional Option. That will force action by Cantor and Boehner, since it undercuts their leverage. Obama is still more popular than they are, so retaliating by attempting impeachment won't get very far at election time and it may not even clear the House (62 GOP members are still from Districts Obama won).

Mary and Jesus as mother and son

2011-07-11T10:43:00.000-04:00

Mary and Jesus as mother and son by Thomas C. Fox

My reaction: This is the most important relationship in scripture, because unless you understand it, you cannot understand why Jesus finally called out in despair on the Cross.

While it is fashionable to believe that the nativity stories are an add-on, I believe they are essential - since they locate Jesus' knowledge of himself in His mother's telling of them and in His reading of the scripture, rather than in some proto-gnostic self-awareness. When He entrusted her to John's care, He rejected both this origin belief and His mission. He did not give John instructions to baptize all nations or even await the Resurrection. He essentially told those He loved that He was a he - dead man hanging.

Understand this and you understand all of Christianity, including that the purpose of morality is not to placate God, but to live well on Earth. This view is mutually exclusive from the view that God is angry and his anger must be satisfied by blood. Instead, the blood is to be shared as Jesus shared our despair (I thirst).

Crazy Cons Attack Card. O'Malley

2011-06-24T13:57:00.000-04:00

Crazy Cons Attack Card. O'Malley by Michael Sean Winters

Cardinal O'Malley is moving in the right direction, but is not there yet. The crazy cons, however, shoudl follow his advice and go to confession for their hate. If a position in natural law needs a strong PR strategy, it may not be as natural as you think. I still think it comes down to marriage as the social tool that creates families (calling them civil unions is a PC copout). To not allow gays to create their own families is to infantalize them into their families of origin - and there is nothing natural about that.

Debating Faithful Citizenship

2011-06-18T02:45:00.000-04:00

Debating Faithful Citizenship by Michael Sean Winters

My response:

Faithful Citizenship has never been used as intended. It is at best a Band-Aid on addressing the intricacies of both abortion law and poverty. Until these issues are more explicitly addressed, it will prove caustic as some seize on abortion as a non-negotiable without actually saying what is to be done about it, while others use it as an excuse to ignore the issue altogether. Neither view is correct. We should instead agree to either a realistic program to end abortion through criminal law or admit that it cannot be done and instead agree on an economic strategy to reduce it.

Weiner forced out for lying about Masturbation

2011-06-18T02:31:00.002-04:00

That should be the headline that the mainstream media is forced to use. Anyone involved in showing the gentleman from New York the door should have to use or respond to the word Masturbation in public - if only to show how pathetic this incident really is.

The issue should not be seen as sexting. Sexting is only a way to try to verify age, gender and intent before engaging in phone sex or cybering for the purposes of mutual masturbation.

That of course, is not the problem. It is that he lied about it. Still, it is rather pathetic that he is being forced out for lying about masturbation. A little political courage would have been a nice change, especially with an incident mostly media driven.

What he did was stupid, but understandable. He was either freaked out by the idea of fatherhood or really, really hard up because of morning sickness.

He would not be the first guy who sought a little personal relief in those circumstances. Any guy who says he has not masturbated during the morning sickness phase of pregnancy is lying.

You don't force people out of their jobs for that - or for cybering before marriage.

Liberals should rise up against such puritanism, however it is not to be this time.

The Veep at the Vatican

2011-06-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

The Veep at the Vatican by Michael Sean Winters

My response: I disagree. Biden is not wrong and I hope he explained the difference between supporting abortion and not using the criminal law to regulate it in American Society. There was never an "abortion law" enacted and in a society that grants equal protection to all individuals, making a fetus an individual in the first trimester is so legally problematic that the pro-life movement does not attempt it. Until they do attempt it, there is nothing for pro-choice Catholic (or non-Catholic politicians) to oppose. You cannot say we are wrong for opposing non-existent legilation (and neither can the Pope). Hopefully, Biden explained this. One more thing, John the Divine was Jesus best friend, not Peter.

The resurrection of the dead -- Part 2

2011-06-03T11:50:00.000-04:00

The resurrection of the dead -- Part 2 by Fr. Richard McBrian

My response: The resurrection of the dead is really the only belief that does not boil down to annihilation, since being unressurrected in the pressence of God would amount to your reality being all God and no you. Only faith in a resurrection makes individuality possible and it is the biggest leap of faith one can have.

Medicare Vouchers Won’t Reduce Health Spending

2011-05-31T16:36:00.000-04:00

Medicare Vouchers Won’t Reduce Health Spending by Howard Gleckman

The entire debate is premature until the impact of pre-existing condition reforms on the market is known. If people start dropping insurance until they get sick – which is rational given the weakness of mandates – then private health insurance will require a bailout into an effective single payer system.

The only way to stop this from happening is to enact a subsidized public option for those with pre-existing conditions while repealing mandates and pre-existing condition reforms.

This will require more funding, probably some kind of employer payroll or net business receipts tax – which would also fund the shortfall in Medicare and Medicaid (and take over most of their public revenue funding).

If cost savings are desired within such a formulation, allow companies to offer services privately to both employees and retirees in exchange for a substantial tax benefit. Employers who fund catastrophic care would get an even higher benefit, with the proviso that any care so provided be superior to the care available through Medicaid.

Making employers responsible for most costs and for all cost savings allows them to use some market power to get lower rates, but no so much that the free market is destroyed.

Run, Sarah, Run

2011-05-31T14:20:00.000-04:00

Run, Sarah, Run by Michael Sean Winters

My response: She's not running. The only money she has raised is for her personal fortune, not her campaign. She has not campaign structure and if she tried to build one, it is hard to believe she will get anyone worth having.

Silk Takes on Donohue Over John Jay Report

2011-05-31T14:13:00.000-04:00

Silk Takes on Donohue Over John Jay Report by Michael Sean Winters

My comment: Donohue speaks for his tribe. His response, however, is not that much different in kind than the Jay's, which blames sexual liberation for the problem rather than seeing it as the reason people are coming forward to report a centuries old phenomenon.

Romney Gives Obama an "F"

2011-05-31T14:07:00.000-04:00

Romney Gives Obama an "F" by Michael Sean Winters

The secret to getting this economy moving is not giving everyone a benefit, but in helping underwater borrowers, which will allow them to sell their houses if they desire, take new jobs, or simply feel OK about spending money. If they start doing better, everyone else will feel more secure and the economy will rebound. Obama gets an F for not doing this, but I don't see Romney going down this road either.

Property Tax Caps and Local Governance

2011-05-27T14:11:00.000-04:00

Property Tax Caps and Local Governance by Len Burman

My comments:

2% is awfully low when compared to the increase that Home Owners Associations usually get, which is inflation.

The problem with property taxes in general is WHAT they fund. Schools are a redistributional activity – and unless you have a Georgist level of land value taxation with a citizen dividend – the proper tax to fund it is an income tax or maybe a net business receipts tax (provided that the net includes taxing wages and employees can chose education providers).

The property tax should fun local infrastructure and public safety – basically what an HOA would provide. Indeed, if everyone had a strong HOA with privatized roads, fire protection and security, property taxes could be dispensed with altogether.

Of course, in modern smart growth communities, there would be a great deal of overlap between neighbors and co-workers. If the local employers were cooperatively owned, the overlap could increase further without the danger of old style company towns turning workers into slaves.

Of course, in a smart-growth, employee-owned world, the cooperative would provide all the services (see Mondragon in Spain) and there would be no need for taxation or a separate government.

Don’t Cut the Gas Tax for Summer Holidays, Double It

2011-05-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

Don’t Cut the Gas Tax for Summer Holidays, Double It

Gas taxes need to go up, or better yet be set a a fixed percentage rather than a fixed excise. The feds should do this too.

The last I checked air pollution and warming levels, we need less driving, not more. The last time I drove, I noted we need more road repair – especially given the effect of the snows we have on roads.

We also need more gas tax revenue to build and operate more rail.

Rewards: God, Oughtness and Others

2011-05-25T22:32:00.002-04:00

No one goes to Hell for believing the wrong thing on the Trinity. Our knowledge is wholly incomplete, and indeed must be. By definition, it is wrong. We cannot understand it. The reason doctrinal discipline on it is necessary is that common belief is essential for common worship - which is one part of loving God - although the main part is the second part of the Great Commandment, which is about loving others.

The whole discussion we had in Ethics class in Minor Seminary on oughtness really only has meaning when it applies to loving others. There is no way around loving God because that completes us rather than because He deserves it - because frankly, He does not need our Love at all - it is all for our benefit - to deserve is to have need of something. The oughtness of loving God must therefore come by loving others, which is impossible fully without the assistance of God (whether one honors God in worship or not). When we love each other for their intrinic value, rather than the reward that comes to us for doing so, we are getting the oughtness thing down. Indeed, some athiests are more worthy than Christians, since they love others with no expectation of reward, but only because compassion is simply the right thing to do.

The Lessons of Doomsday 2011

2011-05-22T15:47:00.001-04:00

Unless someone has hidden under a rock for the last week or so, it has been impossible to notice the the claims by Rev. Camping that the Rapture and Doomsday were to occur at 6 pm, EDT yesterday. The public took great delight in ridiculing his claims, Christian and non-Christian alike. He probably had it coming, least of which because we are advised not to be date setters. This verse included in the Gospels probably because the early Church had more than its share of those who believed the return of Christ was sure to happen on some set date - or imminently. Indeed, the letters of Paul and his calls for personal sexual sanctity come from this expectation.

I have never been one to believe in the Rapture of the faithful. The verse which says we shall meet the Lord in the air is more about individual end of life experience than a prophetic event - and it may be based on Paul's own near death experience when he was stoned and came back to life. Modern neuroscience is positing that such experiences can be chalked up to brain chemistry and physics - which makes sense since when one is dead, the organ that remembers things - the brain - is not working.

Belief in life after death requires more faith than belief in God, since no evidence is possible. Even reason fails us - since using reason one can only conclude that if we survive, we would experience a being whose very presence would annihilate our souls in the same way as if we had no soul or if only a Nirvana existed. Only through faith in a loving God is it possible to expect that whatever happens, we will be taken care of.

Much of the belief in the Rapture comes from Revelation 7:1-8, which states that twelve thousand people from each tribe of Israel shall be sealed. While the numbering has numerological significance, as significant is the fact that the children of Israel are called out, not the followers of Christ. If any kind of Rapture occurs, it would seem to apply to the Jews and descendants of the exiles of the Northern Kingdom - who frequent readers know I believe to be the Romany, as well as the Palestinians who can trace their ancestry to the David kingdom. (I don't recall inviting non-Israelite Protestants to our party - especially given their history of persecuting us - indeed, for that reason, they should not expect to be raptured).

Rather than being preserved, the followers of Christ are identified in Revelation 7:9-17 as those who suffered and died for the Jesus. It is a weakness of faith to want to go the easy route. In the early Church, glory was reserved for martyrs - those who would lose their lives for Christ - who would give all of their possessions and follow Jesus. There was no Prosperity Gospel or what we call "cheap grace" in the early church (or rather, there probably was, which is why it is mentioned and condemned).

This desire in the followers of Luther likely comes in reaction to as unhealthy obsession with personal salvation in the Roman Church, with the selling of indulgences to finance the building of St. Peter's Basilica acting as its own form of cheap grace, as is the obsession with mortal sin, especially sexual sin, in modern times and the need for frequent confession (an obsession which has thankfully declined in recent years).

The obsession with personal salvation leads to beliefs such as the rapture and the equally condemnable example of Bishop Olmsted excommunicating Sister Margaret McBride for allowing an indirect abortion to save the life of a woman dying of pulmonary hypertension because of her pregnancy. Had he not pronounced excommunication, he likely feared for the state of his own soul - in a very real way taking the life of another to save his own. Such an action, especially in the name of Christ, sets the Gospel on its ear. As condemnable is the current campaign against gay marriage, including the denial of health benefits to all married Catholic Charities employees in the Archdiocese of Washington as a way to avoid paying them to gay spouses.

It is ironic that the Rapture was predicted for this weekend, as the reading today in the Roman Church was from the Acts of the Apostles where the Deacons were appointed so that the Apostles would not have to wait tables, but instead concentrate on preaching the Gospel. They were already forgetting the example of Jesus washing their feet and the parable of the Good Samaritan (brothers of the Romany), who helped the victim of an attack where members of the priest caste had not.

It is easy to see this as a commentary on the Jews. It is harder, but more necessary, to see this as a comment on what the Church should be focusing on - and what we should be focusing on as Christians - serving the least among us - both on an individual basis and in the public sphere. To deny the social nature of the Gospel is to again obsess on personal salvation rather than serving others as Jesus would have us serve them - not to get into Heaven, but to bring Heaven to the Earth, as we pray to do in the Our Father.

Obama, Israel & the '67 Borders

2011-05-20T16:19:00.000-04:00

Obama, Israel & the '67 Borders by Michael Sean Winters

My reaction:

It is more about trying to pander to Jewish voters, who seem out of the reach of the GOP. I suspect that the land swaps required to keep a Jewish state Jewish without resort to minority oppression will involve much more than nibbling around the edges of the 1967 borders. Major portions of Arab northern Israel will have to be joined with the West Bank to avoid the destiny of demography, with relocations to match where Jews have settled in those areas.

Of course, a two state solution is a cop out. One motivation for a united Israel is the re-establishment of the Temple, but I can not see the God of the Old Testament allowing this as long as the Palestinians are oppressed. Indeed, if there is anything to the belief of the Ethiopean Copts that they actually have the Ark of the Covenant, I can't see the Coptic Church allowing its return while the Jewish state represses anyone, particularly Christians.

The end times meme has an interesting twist, as the part of it that most don't get is the return of the lost tribes of the north, not just the return of the Jews (who come from Levi and Judah only). There are those in the Romany community who are coming to believe that we are the exiles of the Northern kingdom, having migrated from Assyria through Persia to India. The real irony is the fact that our legends clearly state that we were Christianized by the Apostle Thomas. Indeed, our tradition is older than Rome and as such is a "purer" Christianity - although most of us have assimilated into the Roman Church - with growing numbers becoming Evangelical as well.

We are related to the Samaritans, who are few - although it is likely that many of them were converts to Christianity in the early years or prior to that took up Judaism. Some undoubtedly are Palestinian Muslims, adopting Islam to get along. This is the sad tragedy of the entire situation - that those most persecuted by the state of Israel are most likely ethnically Jewish from generations in the past.

Going back to the Romany narrative, since we are already Christian, the end times prophesy on our conversion has already occurred. What is necessary is repatriation for the prophesy to be fulfilled. Given the low esteem we are held in by much of the world, it is unlikely the cause of Romany return will be taken up any time soon - although that is clearly what is required by the prophesy.

Is Corporate Tax Reform Realistic?

2011-05-20T10:36:00.000-04:00

Is Corporate Tax Reform Realistic? by Howard Gleckman

My comments:

Corporate tax rate reform should probably go hand in hand with personal and payroll tax reform or reduction. The biggest base broadener is to turn the Corporate income (really profits) tax into a Net Business Receipts Tax by ending the deductibility of labor costs and expanding filing to all businesses, not just corporations.

There could a surtax for higher salaried employees and investors – although that brings up a reporting problem most conveniently solved by preserving an income surtax on the highest earners. This prevents the taxation of lower income investors and preserves the privacy of people who have independent income – who might be unemployable if doing so requires payment of a higher tax on their behalf.

Such a reform should also have a VAT portion, so that the public is conscious of taxation at every level.

Finally, the VAT should be zero rated at the border, but not the NBRT so that the NBRT can continue to have deductions for things like health care.

I would expand the range of deductions and credits for health care for workers, their families and retirees, with robust mental health care provisions (to replace incarceration of the mentally ill and addicted) as well as educational benefits at the state and federal levels for children and for new hires (with college students hired before junior year and their employers picking up the tab in exchange for tax benefits and a service commitment – which would be replaced by a marketable loan if the employment did not work out).

Most importantly, the child tax credit would shift to the NBRT from income taxation. Because of these tax payments, the NBRT would not be zero rated for exports, since the importing country benefits from services to employees and their families in a way that they don’t benefit from services provided to taxpayers through a VAT.

Bishops at center of abuse scandal, and potential reform

2011-05-19T16:29:00.000-04:00

Bishops at center of abuse scandal, and potential reform

The report has it wrong. This has always been a problem in the Church. The sexual revolution simply opened up discussion of sex so that victims who would have suffered in silence began coming forward. This, more than anything else, is what stopped the ongoing patterns of abuse.

Congrats, Class of 2011: You're Hired!

2011-05-17T12:59:00.000-04:00

Congrats, Class of 2011: You're Hired!
by Kathleen Deveny

The sad fact is that many of these graduates will be replacing much more experienced workers who have recently been let go. It does not have to be that way, if longevity were compensated with stock rather than higher salary and compensation for family size was direct in a larger refundable tax credit - rather than through ever increasing salaries through the working career.

Sadly, many of these grad have huge educational debt. It would have been better if they had been hired before junior year, with tuition and living expenses paid by the employer for that period - with government aid paying for the first two years. I bet the smartest kids would have taken and gotten that deal.

Assessing the GOP Field

2011-05-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

Assessing the GOP Field by Michael Sean Winters

My response: Gerson is not the only one trying to sell T-Paw to Christian Conservatives. Mitch Daniels is the only other possible choice (the very same Daniels who presided over the economic debacle that was the Bush II presidency). The establishment and the cultural conservatives hate Romney, so the GOP does not have many options. Of course, if the deal to extend the debt limit leads to a much feared palace coup in the House, there won't be a GOP to run in.

Medicaid Cuts & Subsidiarity

2011-05-17T10:09:00.000-04:00

Medicaid Cuts & Subsidiarity by Michael Sean Winters

Medicaid is actually three programs. With the passage of the ACA, it will be the chief health insurance provider for the working poor. It is the payer of last resort for Seniors in nursing homes. Finally, it cares for the chronically poor who don't work - either due to medical reasons or illiterarcy - which makes it a target for those whose Christianity includes the Protestant work ethic (and those Catholics who have bought into that, through Rand).

The Senior portion should simply be fedralized - which Reagan offerred to do in New Federalism in 1982 (in an echo of Nixon's proposal). Ryan is probably too young to remember the Gipper's proposal. More's the pity.

Health care for the working poor should probably be provided through employers rather than Medicaid. The way to force this is not a mandate but a tax deduction (which would also be how to get employers to cover retirees - including the chronically ill). Taxes on employers could be consolidated from personal income taxes on all but the wealthiest, the Hospital Insurance payroll tax and the corporate income tax into a Value Added Tax (to cover discretionary spending) and a Net Business Receipts Tax. The NBRT would be like a VAT, but would not be on the receipt because businesses would have the option of taking deductions for family support, education and health care costs for employees and retirees. The tax should be set high enough that even marginal employers would have an interest to offer care rather than have employees use a "public option."

Such a plan would meet the needs of subsidiarity. It could not be entirely voluntary, however. If voluntary charity could meet social needs, coffers would be full for this purpose since tax rates for the wealthy are at historic lows. (A parallel is the current evidence aganist supply side economics - which, if true, would have led to historically low unemployment as employers are flush with cash).

Libertopia could exist, however it takes a high nominal tax rate on business to get us there.

Inside the Social Security Wage Cap Issue

2011-04-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

Inside the Social Security Wage Cap Issue by Merrill Goozner

The cap could be raised more quickly if employer contributions were credited differently. If they were credited equally, rather than as a match for income, everyone would benefit from quickly going to a higher level. I suspect, however, that doing this will require adoption of personal retirement accounts as well and an agreement to stop making this an electoral issue.

A few of my prior Good Friday meditations

2011-04-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

The Christian Left: The Damnation Trial of Jesus of Nazareth - A One Act Play#links is the same message as my usual Good Friday meditiation, but in a form more amenable to the Law and Order/People's Court generation.

The Christian Left: The death of Jesus and it's meaning for us (Geocities Rescue)#links is my usual Good Friday meditation. It was part of the book and I first reposted it here in 2005. Here it is again.

Crucifixion helps make meaning of pain in church, world

2011-04-22T12:29:00.000-04:00

Crucifixion helps make meaning of pain in church, world by Jamie L. Manson

The author is reducing his death to a political act. Don't ignore the salvic implications of it. One can still reject the scandal of an angry God who demands the blood of his own Son as an act of atonement without reducing Good Friday to just another martyrdom.

Jesus came to experience something that he could not experience in any other way. Looking at the Gospels together shows what that was.

Start with the Last Supper and the promise to not drink of the fruit of the vine until He does so in the Father's kingdom. Then move forward to John's Gospel where He said, "I thirst" and was given wine or vinegar, which he drank. He either than became an unworthy servant or what happened just prior to His thirst was salvic.

The synoptic gospels simply deny what John witnessed by saying that He was prevented from getting wine by those who wanted to wait to see if Elijah came for him - however John is fairly clear - although the meaning of the paradox has been lost.

The question becomes, why did Jesus cry out for Elijah as the suffering servant? John answers that question too.

When He said "Woman, behold your son - John, behold your mother," he was abandoning his divine origins - which Mary had told him of ("And she kept all these things in her heart") as well as his mission (He did not command John to baptize all nations, but to take care of his grandmother - John was son of Zebedee and Salome - Joseph's daughter). Picture the reaction of Mary to this. It likely broke her spirit and any emotion support she had provided to Jesus on the cross was lost in a torrent of tears and likely a turning away. Without this support, Jesus could finally be crushed as the sinner is crushed - causing him to cry out in despair to Elijah - not in a fulfillment of prophesy but as an authentic act of grief.

This clearly puts the locus of salvation not on bloody atonement, but on the atonement of the spirit - where Jesus shared the separation from God the way mankind does in a world of sin.

Of course, the implications of this for morality are profound, since it points to a humanistic rather than a theistic formulation. If morality is for man, a version of natural law where homoesexuals are "disordered" is clearly not in keeping with God's will. Just the opposite - as is the Church's prior fetish with adolescent masturbation. If one need no longer fear Hell for violating "God's rights" when a possibly fatal pregnancy presents itself, the decision to allow an indirect, or even a direct, abortion in Phoenix can be seen in a much different light.

Rep. Ryan's Budget

2011-04-05T14:34:00.000-04:00

Rep. Ryan's Budget by Michael Sean Winters

This budget will score points for Ryan in GOP land, but it is as dead in the Senate as Obama's budget was in the House. Unless the GOP can pick up 13 Senate seats in 2012, with 26 possible, it can't dictate terms. As it is, they may lose seats due to Tea Party challenges.

It is a bit irresponsible for Ryan to hang his hat on repealing health care reform, since doing so undos valuable fixes to Medicare that put it on the road to solvency. His major objection appears to be that the funding fixes are one big step toward VAT funding, or something similar like a Business Receipts Tax as proposed by Lawrence B. Lindsey. While the entire fiscal establishment is looking at such a broad based tax as a solution, Ryan is going the other way. This is a great way to get moderate Republicans and Democrats to roll him on every issue.

It is a bit early to worry about Medicare and Medicaid in the long term, considering that Ryan is correct in the need for a major overhaul in the Affordable Care Act. This is not the case because mandates are unconstitutional or even unpopular, although the latter enters into it. It is because they are inadequate and are not likely to be raised in the face of pre-existing condition reforms which may well cause people to drop insurance coverage until they get sick. We are not sure how consumers will react, but if it becomes clear that they are economically rational, the health insurance industry's stock price will tank before most policies are cancelled, leading to a bailout by the Federal government and a defacto single-payer system funded by a broad based payroll or consumption tax. The other alternative is to enact a public option as part of deal to drop patient protections, with funding done in the same way.

When funding the next round of reform is settled, funding the shortfalls in Medicare and Medicaid will likely be settled as well.

We can't do this with budget cuts, even if they are masked in premium support schemes. The annual doc fix shows that Medicare provider rates will never be cut to the extent required by law (Ryan is right about that conclusion), so the only alternative really is enhanced funding. Bifurcating Medicare won't fly either, since it would likely be more expensive to fund parallel plans than can be saved in cutting benefits for younger retirees. Once that becomes clear, the GOP loses its base. Indeed, recent analysis shows that the only way that the Ryan Medicare plan might work is under the Exchange Ruberic of the ACA. Cut out the exchanges and seniors go without.

As for giving more power to the states on Medicaid, one need only look how they are coping with higher costs now to see that this is a bad idea. Provider cuts look good in the short term, but they will eventually put more people in the ER for primary care. While in the ACA transition period, that may get them coverage under federal health care reform, such a move is unsustainable in the long run. A more viable option for the states is to simply take a page from Reagan and federalize Medicaid entirely in exchange for dropping the deductibility of state income, sales and property taxes. As long as the feds develop a sound funding source for health care as a whole as part of comprehensive tax reform (which eliminates the requirement that most people file taxes at all), it is a win-win for everyone.

Focus on Budget and Debt

2011-04-05T13:46:00.000-04:00

Focus on Budget and Debt by Bruce Bartlett

Steve Bell seems to know more than Bill Gross. This will have echos of House Democrats rolling Gingrich to pass Clinton's budget priorities.

The Ryan roadmap ignores the politics of 2012, not so much in terms of the GOP losing its own agenda, which it will, but in terms of how the Senate is likely to turn out. Even though the GOP needs 13 of the 23 Democrat seats, a few of which are open, it only takes a look at how many open seats it has and the likelihood that a Tea Party challenger will drive at least five of them into the arms of the Democrats. Indeed, Senator Snowe may find it in her interest to switch, and may take Collins and Murkowski with her for company. In Arizona, if Gabby Giffords can do a press conference, she can get Kyl's seat for the asking. One would think that a Texas Senate seat is safely Republican, but it is open and the Tea Party is likely to run a red meat, anti-immigration candidate. Sharon Angle has announced plans to consider a run for Ensign's seat. Nuff said. Finally, if Scott Brown goes to far left, he gets a Tea Party challenge. Too far right and he is beatable by a Democrat. The center may not hold for him. Finally, if McConnell does compromise on the budget, he could be Tea Partied too. Even if he wins, he is no Rand Paul.

The GOP needs to make their best deal now. They are delusional if they think they can make a better one in 2013.

Indeed, they may not survive the month. Compromise could lead to a potential palace coup. Then the only question is whether Boehner stays and fights or resigns in favor of Cantor. The prospect of Cantor (or worse, Pence) in the Speaker's chair may prompt either a Boehner-Pelosi or a Boehner-Hoyer compromise, with revenge meted out against anyone who sought the Speaker's resignation.

String theory forces us to abandon small images of God

2011-04-02T09:24:00.000-04:00

String theory forces us to abandon small images of God by Rich Heffern

My response:

It is not natural science that is the enemy of relgion, but psychology and religion itself. The deeper questions can't be answered in string theory. Indeed, they can't be answered at all. This is why they are great questions.

One can explain human conciousness with a combination of linguistics,
chaos theory and neuroscience. Whether God can exist within that formulation is an unknowable which comes down to belief, not knowledge.

Militant Atheism is actually the best proof of God. Why do militant atheists bother? At the deepest of levels, they bother because they love other people and don't want to see them abused by religion. One could explain that as a biological quirk or one can posit that it is God that gives them this concern for others.

Love is either a trick of biology, a viral idea or a driving force that we can never understand, but that we call God - and that Christians call the Holy Spirit. The more deeply one experiences the Spirit, the more deeply one believes in Her.

Patrick Reilly Slanders Jesuits

2011-03-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

Patrick Reilly Slanders Jesuits by Michael Sean Winters

I suspect that the Provincial did not know of the activities of the University in this area. It would be below his attention. Sometimes one must be obnoxious to be noticed.

I also suspect that health care reform will remove the need for Planned Parenthood to provide many of the services they now provide. Eventually, they will be defunded because there will be nothing left to them but abortion.

If the child tax credit is raised to living wage levels (with state matches), most clients would not go to Planned Parenthood at all. One would think that this is enough to get Republicans to support both the ACA and the expansion of the credit. If you expect that, though, you would likely be mistaken.

The GOP needs Planned Parenthood to distract us from the plutocracy they have created. The provisions defunding it would have never passed if it was not a sure bet that the Senate would evicerate them.

Natural Law and Homosexuality

2011-03-22T22:19:00.000-04:00

I was blogging on Facebook on gay marriage with a classmate from college today, who claimed that Catholic support for gay marriage comes from bad Cathechesis. This is my response.

In the 40s and 50s, everyone thought homosexuals were mentally ill. Turns out that this was wrong. After Vatican II, many in the church were moving quickly toward excepting gays and lesbians as being born that way until Cardinal Ratzinger called them disordered, likely at the behest of John Paul II.

Cathechesis is a bit hard when the Church can't seem to make up its mind. If you will look at your ethics book from Loras - Fagothy's Right and Reason - a good natural law tome - not something you would find in Paul Allen's class - you will note that the natural law argument on whether homosexual relations being licit comes down to whether you are a theist or not.

Without reference to authority (and the scriptural authority is week, so we are talking about curial fiat here), there are two possible natural law views on the subject. One is that homosexuals can licitly have monogamous sex in response to how they are created (even if there was a hormonal problem - as is suspected - such problems if they occur with regularity can be as attributable to God as the lack of melanin in white people) and the other is that sex is linked to procreation - although such a view is, at its heart, offensive to post-menopausal women - who are free to marry. Homosexuality is only disordered if you create your view of order from metaphore rather than how life actually occurs for people. We have had quite enough metaphor in defining Catholic sexuality. It is not helpful.

New Report on Catholic Attitudes Towards LGBT Issues

2011-03-22T17:12:00.000-04:00

New Report on Catholic Attitudes Towards LGBT Issues from Michael Sean Winters

There are fewer older Latinos in the US among Latino families, since many are recent immigrants and people who immigrate are likely more socially liberal because of both youth and openess to change.

Studies like this give bishops the Willies, since eventually Catholic families will demand that gay unions are blessed, even if they are originally contracted civilly. Indeed, many post divorce unions are "blessed" this way, even if there has been no annullment.

The number of gay priests makes this a problematic one for episcopal discipline. I have a feeling more than a few priests have the attitude that what the bishop does not know, won't hurt him.

In a generation, many of those priests will be bishops and once they compare notes in private, you will see profound doctrinal change on this issue.

All comments about relativism aside, the Church only exists in the conversations people have about it. When the conversation changes overtly, there is not much CDF can do about it - if CDF even survives the predicted (and quickly upcoming) destruction of Rome by both St. Malachy and Our Lady of Fatima.

The Relativism of Infallibility

2011-03-18T21:40:00.002-04:00

A major theme of the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI is resistance to the “tyranny of relativism.” Relativism is seen as an attack upon the Infallible Magisterium of the Catholic Church – a modernist attack designed to destroy the Church. This essay will examine the concepts of relativism and infallibility to see if this is really the case.

The doctrine of infallibility has its roots in an almost Protestant bit of proof texting, where St. Peter is given the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, so that what is bound on Earth is bound on Heaven and what is loosed on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven. In other places this gift is given to the entire Church, but because Peter is reputed to have died in Roman, it is claimed he was its bishop and founder (the latter is definitely not the case, else Paul would have greeted him in the letter to the Romans) and has also been interpreted to refer to the forgiveness of sin rather than to the definition of orthodoxy.

In the early Church, the See of Peter was not regarded as infallible. Indeed, he did not stay in one particular place. Like Paul, he moved around before going to Rome, although his journeys are not chronicled in the New Testament canon. The claim of infallibility came later. Indeed, the first bishops were more likely those who presided over the Eucharist in a community that was more a parish than a diocese. It is a wonder the Church survived at all and it is testimony to the promise that Jesus would stay with it (or even her if you prefer) and Hell would not prevail against it.

Papal infallibility was actually first declared as doctrine by the First Vatican Council under Blessed Pope Pius IX. In recent times, the entire teaching Magisterium of the Church, including the actions of the Bishops, are considered infallible as well.

Is this really the case? While it would be glib to simply deny it is possible, I believe it must exist at some level. There are two ways in which it can occur.

The first is that the Pope and the bishops have some sort of cosmic access to truth so that they can never be wrong and that they are so careful in exercising it that nothing they within the context of the Magisterium can ever be reformed or changed, that it is based on natural law. This is the basis for its absolutism – a belief not only in the existence of absolute truth but in a superior grasp of it over and above what is available to the laity. In short, the Church is protected from committing error.

The second possibility concedes the existence of absolute truth, but does not concede the Church’s access to it. Rather than the hierarchy being protected from error, the faithful are protected from any errors in doctrine. They can trust that they will not be held responsible for any errors in the doctrine of the Church.

Such an interpretation is actually consistent with absolutist philosophy, which teaches that while absolute truth exists in the realm of ideas (or if you prefer, in the mind and Word of God), it does not exist in the human world in its purest form. If it did, time would stop because the absolutes would be laid bare. There would no longer be free choice, because all would be instantly attracted to the perfection of God, His Perfect Truth and their Perfect Love (aka, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). Freedom exists precisely because God is hidden from us, although experiences of grace can make God present to us through the Sacraments of the Church, as well as individual grants of grace when most needed. The Church is still a channel of truth, but cannot claim its perfection since such perfection cannot be experienced in this life.

The essence of infallibility in this context is that it is dependent not on the absolutes but on their interpretation. This is the essence of relativism, which lodges truth in the life of the community and of the individual conscience (which is always seen as king, even in Catholic doctrine). Indeed, the spirit of prophesy, when understood in its ancient sense, is the criticism of the hierarchy by men and women based on the dictates of their consciences and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. While the faithful are protected from sin by following the teaching Magisterium of the Church, those who have been prompted by the Spirit to disagree, even at personal cost, are not allowed to keep silent. The Communion of the Saints is full of dissenters, some of whom were put to death by both the ancient kings of Judea and Israel and later by the Church for speaking in this way – and were later vindicated when their words proved to be from God.

There is no reason to believe that the process of purification in the Church has stopped. Indeed, recent events seem to indicate that there is much work yet to do. In this context, the promise that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church is not a promise that it will never be challenged, but rather that the Spirit of God will use men and women of conscience to speak the truth to it when it errs, just as Jesus promised when He said that there was more to be revealed through that Spirit.

In the current context, there will always be people like Pope Benedict to correct the errors of those like Cardinal Sodano, who would protect the reputation of the Church in its darkest days rather than bring it into the light. It is the reformers in the Church that fulfill the promise of divine protection, not those who would resist reform. It also means that no doctrine is unreformable, especially those which violate the command to love perfectly, as the Father loves perfectly. How to love perfectly is always a matter to be debated and that debate will shift as we further understand human nature and with it an evolving natural law, which in reality must be understandable by every person who can exercise the capacity for reason and love, not just the chosen few. One need only look to the history of the Church and the lives of the saints to know that this is, in fact, the case.

GOP Is Blowing It by Pandering to Tea Party

2011-03-18T11:02:00.000-04:00

GOP Is Blowing It by Pandering to Tea Party by Bruce Bartlett

Bruce is the rare exception among those who left the GOP because of the budget profligacy of George W. Bush. While fiscal conservativism may have been a factor in the loss of the Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008, I suspect that the mishandling of Iraq had more to do with 2006, while proto-Tea Party anger was what alienated many GOP voters in 2008.

My own Republican mother voted for Obama, largely because McCain nominated Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin. I know that I was schocked at the tone she stoked in her rallies, which gained ample coverage in the fall of that year.

It took John McCain to try to tone down the almost Klan Rally atmosphere - and he was not entirely successful, especially given his angry old man performance in the second debate.

In the short term, whether the Republican Party exists as an ongoing concern will be determined by whether Tea Party members of Congress resist back bencher status when Boehner, Reid and Biden negotiate a budget deal without them. If they openly revolt, the GOP is likely dead - the only question is who leaves first.

If Boehner is removed as Speaker by an internal revolt and lack of loyalty and courage by the more seasoned members of his caucus, I suspect that mainstream Republicans will join a centrist party, like the Independence Party of America.

If they are compliant, the GOP may survive - although I suspect that many may flee to more radical parties in 2012, like the Citizens Party, the Libertarian Party or the Constition Party. Indeed, mass revolts may lead to a fusion of the radical right - although the remaining GOP will have lost its spark and will be unable to form a majority anywhere.

Of course, Obama is quite capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 2010 can mostly be explained by his new voters staying home - mostly because they are upset that they have graduated college and are living at home without a job, including that job in the West Wing that they all believe they deserved.

If the economy comes back, they will come back to the polls. This is where Obama must frankly dump some of the advice he is getting and instead force Fannie and Freddie to do principal modifications to nip the housing crisis in the bud, as lingering pain in this sector will continue to keep the economy at half speed. More imporanatly, he must find some way to regulate the oil market so that the bubble pops now and not in 2012 (at the behest of David Koch, who knows something about energy trading and who hates Obama). If he ignores these issues, he deserves to lose.

The only question is, who deserves to win?

Pastor says it's time to 'let go,' accept new missal as inevitable

2011-03-18T10:24:00.000-04:00

Pastor says it's time to 'let go,' accept new missal as inevitable by Tom Roberts

This could go one of two ways. The people may actually like the new translation, especially those of us who are older. Some say it is quite impressive, as the Extraordinary Rite is impressive. Indeed, I see little difference between the new Roman Rite and most of the Extraordinary Rite.

They could have saved a lot of time and trouble by simply translating the Extraordinary Rite at Vatican II, rather than also writing a new Mass. I suspect the new Roman Rite is an attempt at synthesis.

The other option is that people will hate the new Roman Rite and the process by which it was foisted upon us. Given the current Reapproachment with Orthodoxy, this might well be the moment that the American Church demands a more, to use the term of art, Autocephalic Status - our own Patriarch and Rite.

The English speaking Church could also demand the same thing as a whole - although given how the African Church in both the Anglican and Catholic Traditions is growing ever more conservative while the English North is not, perhaps this would be a good time for Africa to link with Alexandria rather than Rome. Indeed, when such things were being worked out originally, the ancient Church of Alexandria was given jurisdiction for all of African Christianity. Perhaps this is the moment to honor that traditional right.

Marriage as an adult right

2011-03-02T09:35:00.002-05:00

The Family Research Council, in its opposition to the California Attorney General's support for immediately allowing marriage equality, has stated that the family is the foundation of civilization - to which we all say - that's the point! In a very real sense, to deny gay couples marriage equality is to deny them full participation in civilized society. As such, conservative opposition is more than preserving a cherished institution. It is an assault on the adult rights of gays and lesbians.

In pre-modern civilization, there was no real age of majority. You were an adult when started your own family (back then, if you were gay, that was a side issue - marriage was about acquiring female property). Even with ages of majority, until you marry, you have still not really left your family - as they maintain kinship with you in extremis. In other words, if you cannot speak for yourself and are unmarried, your parents and siblings have the right to speak for you. You are still their child.

When people marry, the right of familial decision passes to the spouse. That is part of being an adult in a very real sense, the ability to chose to not let your family of origin have any say in your affairs and instead pass that responsibility to a person of your own choosing. Without marriage equality, gays and lesbians do not have that right.

Domestic partnership is no substitute. As the FRC stated, marriage is the foundation of society and that foundation should be available to all people. Abolishing civil marriage and calling everyone partners would just be a lame attempt by conservatives at placating the religious. Recognition of spousal rights came way before there were modern religions. Marriage to a large extent predates society.

The desire to deny marriage to gays and lesbians comes from a desire to control their behavior, to make them conform to conservative convention in order to enjoy full adult rights. Denial of marriage is not just about the ceremony - it is about the recognition of adulthood. For full equality in society, denials of marriage equality cannot stand and they are not a fit subject for either legislation or plebiscite.

Where Will New Revenues for Deficit Reduction Come From?

2011-02-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

Where Will New Revenues for Deficit Reduction Come From? by Howard Gleckman

My response:

Eliminating the tax cuts on the wealthy is not possible without eliminating all the temporary tax cuts. Indeed, with a Republican House, the only window for reform during Obama’s first term is the election of a Democratic House and seat pickups in the Senate, with action during a January lame duck session in 2013. Of course if Obama is reelected and these things occur, he can take his time.

The more probably scenario is gridlock. In a strong economy, Obama wins – however in a middling economy gridlock results in letting the tax cuts for all die, while a poor economy means temporary tax cuts will stay with us – even though increasing taxes on the wealthy would actually have a STIMULATIVE effect by moving money from those who save it and fatten already fat corporate bank accounts to those who spend it – and afterall, consumption is the main component of economic growth.

As to fiscal balance, the better answer is to not only reduce the deficit to interest costs (which negates the impact of the federal debt on the economy) but to begin paying off the debt – both as a percentage of GDP and in absolute terms.

Doing that cannot be confined to the wealthy, nor should it be.

I have laid out a scheme to do this, in my submission to the Fiscal Commission, which is posted on my web page from way back last summer (and was shared with TaxVox). Aside from miscellaneous excise taxes, there should be four major revenue streams, with each stream set to cover a separate set of expenditures.

VAT should cover all domestic military and civil discretionary spending. To do that, the VAT would need to be on the order of 13.3%

A separate Business Revenue Tax of 33.6% would include tax expenditures for families (a $500 per child per month refundable credit paid with wages) and the health care exclusion. Any other retained expenditures would necessitate a higher rate than 33.6%. This levy would fund entitlement and social spending (although this may be overstated, since it includes discretionary grant programs that may be better shifted to the VAT). It would not fund Old Age and Survivors Insurance (retired survivors over 60), but would replace payroll taxes on Disability Insurance, Hospital Insurance and Survivors under 60.

A separate payroll tax would cover Old Age and old Survivors. This is mainly so it can be eventually diverted to personal accounts – else it might as well be part of the VAT so that it is funded by imports as well as wages.

The final stream is a high income surtax (with distributions, but not assets, taxed as normal income). This would only apply to the higher 3, or possibly 2, brackets (depending upon the final BRT and VAT rates). It should fund overseas and sea military deployments (which would otherwise be paid with borrowed funds), net interest and debt retirment. Such a segregation turns the wealthy into both peaceniks and budget balancers, since they would be on the hook for future interest charges, not business taxpayers or their customers).

What about cutting spending? These levies would incentivize it. VATs, which would be receipt visible, would lessen the demand for discretionary government, especially military waste (the bloated bureaucracy, with soldiers on briefing tours in the Pentagon participating in a Byzantine planning process known as PPBE) and pork barrell spending. Net interest would be reduced by the drive toward balance and repayment. Old Age Savings would not be reduced, but could be channelled from a governmental system to a personal account system where funds are invested in the employing firm rather than Wall Street, with a third held in an investment insurance fund, possibly maintained by the Fed). Entitlement spending could be shifted from the government to employer sponsored health, education, mental health care (in lieu of corrections) and anti-poverty programs at both the federal and state levels. This might make the spending much more effective, both in terms of programatic effectiveness and cost effectiveness – especially if third party providers like Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Health Care and the parochial school system expand their roles and are duplicated by other sects and faiths.

If one does not wish to go so comprehensive, we could settle on letting the Bush cuts expire, cutting the Pentagon budget as suggested by the Fiscal Commission, introducing a smaller VAT or simply raising the Hospital Insurance payroll tax to fully fund the same share of Medicare costs that it did in prior years, plus a further increase to fund Medicare Part D (the base could also be broadened).

Tax Reform: The Wheels Are Beginning to Turn

2011-02-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

Tax Reform: The Wheels Are Beginning to Turn by David Marron, Director of TPC

My response:

The biggest exclusions in Corporate Income Taxes are the fact that only corporations pay them, while other firms pay them as part of personal income taxes, and the fact that labor is not taxed.

If labor were taxed in business revenue taxes (Larry Linsey's term) rather than personal taxes the base would be a lot broader and the rates could potentially be a bit lower, although not too much lower if we want to pay for health care in the long term. Any revenue increases should happen slowly, in time with needed spending, rather than collecting too much right away to build a trust fund - as this eventually requires higher income tax collections to repay the fund.

An income surtax should still be charged on the highest incomes to avoid undertaxing the rich and overtaxing the nonrich and to avoid requiring that high income individuals share all of their financial information with their employers and business interests. For their own confidentiality, it is better that the government act as the information clearing house, rather than any one business entity. Any such surtax should be earmarked to the payment of interest and repayment of debt, rather than using a more general levy for these purposes. Theoretically, if wealthier taxpayers were to transfer some of their investments into "tax futures" bonds that simply expire in a future tax year, then the national debt could be paid off fairly quickly - provided the Federal Reserve was willing to find another set of assets to back the currency - such as mortgage backed securities (marked to market).

Social Security reform also enters this equation - both because the income cap needs to be increased and because there is a desire to make the program more progessive. While some have floated the idea of making the bend points even harsher than they are, a better alternative is to begin crediting the employer contribution equally (as in, without regard to the amount of the employee contribution). This moves redistribution to the front end and makes the development of personal accounts possible. The more liberal of us could even see doubling the employer contribution and dispensing with the employee contribution entirely - adjusting gross but not net wages in the process. Gross wages would also take a hit with the aforementioned business revenue tax reform, although net wages would go up to compensate for any VAT component to business revenue taxes - with VAT's being visibile and BRT's staying hidden.

As to the composition of personal retirement accounts - they should hold employer voting stock rather than traded equities or corporate or government bonds. This would allow a shift in equity ownership to workers from the wealthy, government bond ownership from retirement funds and the Federal reserve to the wealthy and private and mortgage bonds from the government and retirment funds to the Fed. Indeed, the only non-employee holders of equities would be a fund holding shares in a third of every firms fund to act as insurance and leverage to back employee groups who claim mismanagement. Such a fund could investigate and join 1/4th of employee stock holdings in controlling any company in order to avoid bankruptcy. It could be either private or held by the Federal Reserve System (if needed to back the currency).

Somehow, I don't think this Administration or this Congress will go quite that far - even if they adopt comprehensive tax reform. If populists on the left and the right form a coalition like they did on the second engine for the F-35, however, the main features of this plan could very well see the light of serious debate. It would be nice if the TPC would score them, by the way. They are in more detail in my submission to the Fiscal Commission, which was copied to TPC but never commented upon - since TPC was working for Domenici Rivlin rather than scoring the options before the Fiscal Commission.

I can forward them to you if you wish to make up for lost time, including a model that allocates spending to various taxes.

Cardinal Rigali Must Go | National Catholic Reporter

2011-02-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

Cardinal Rigali Must Go | National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters

The solution is easy. Each parish council needs to establish itself as a legal non-profit corporation and set up a new checking account controlled by it and not the pastor and insruct the parishoners to give to it and not the parish. That account would then pay for everything but would not send any money to the Cardinal until 1. he transfers all parish property to the corporation, 2. establishes all diocesan entities as non-profits with independent boards 3. let the council hire the priest and 4. resigns when this is done. Peter's pence should be withheld until the same bodies, in unison, elect the new archbishop and the Vatican recognizes this as legitimate.

The faithful realize that until they set up alternate payment arrangements, things like this will continue.

Why We March | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

Why We March National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters

My reaction:

In most jurisdictions, abortion was not considered manslaughter. It was considered the equivalent of killing a puppy.

Overturning Roe judicially would actually make things worse, at least in the way that Scalia would do it, by denying federal supremacy on the question. Now, the way Justice Clarence Thomas would do it, by not allowing the states latitude but instead declaring the humanity of the unborn, might not.

The experience of slavery showed how a multi-state solution to this problem will not work. Indeed, overturning Roe would simply have more people travel to other states for abortion than they do currently (or to other countries), while those who cannot afford to travel would seek back alley abortions again (as some do now). Also, overturning Roe in this way would also gut other federal precident on equal protection.

That would be worse.

The March for Life is destructive because it focuses on Roe, which though unjust to the unborn, was constitutional (because the Constitution is unjust to the unborn until the Congress uses its power to make it not so). As long as Roe is the focus, the movement remains locked in the pipe dream of its removal and will find itself in the swarmy embrace of the Federalist Society and its fringe theories about the rights of states.

Guns and the right to life

2011-01-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

Erica Terrini of the Catholic News Service reports in last weeks Arlington Catholic Herald about a pro-gun rally held in Richmond on January 17th. This rally was held as a counter-point to an anti-gun rally held as part of a commemoration of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. It would have been in good taste to have taken a pass on this, but if gun advocates want to look tacky, it is their right to do so. You can view the coverage at http://www.catholicherald.com/local_news/detail.html?sub_id=14786

In the same issue, the Carol Glatz of the Catholic News Service examines oft ignored Catholic teaching on the right to bear arms. Apparently, the bishops and the Vatican do not recognize a need for individual gun ownership, although they do concede military and law enforcement use. You can see the article at http://www.catholicherald.com/local_news/detail.html?sub_id=14796

I suspect there are some who would even object to law enforcement and military use of armaments, which is not inconsistent with the Gospel. The bishops' and the Vatican's position on capital punishment, where it is to be used only if no other punishment will make society safe, is consistent with this belief, as is the Church's teaching that direct abortion can never occur.

I don't think most of the people in the pews agree, including and especially some of the Bishops' partners in the National Right to Life Committee. This does not justify changing the doctrine, but it does explain why we don't hear more about it. I believe the lesson to be reached here is that the Church should be more careful in who it associates with on these issues. Many liberal Catholics would welcome a bold denunciation of gun rights, as well as an examination of whether the National Right to Life Committee's agenda is really about protecting life and not about electing Republicans and fundraising for Republican operatives.

That said, I am not sure that the radical pacifism in the Gospel can become part of public law, at least at this stage. While I agree that much more robust gun control would be advisable, I am not sure that martyrdom can be imposed on either people in their homes or women facing a possible fatal pregnancy. Nor am I at all sanguine that there is any difference between imposing capital punishment or confining someone to life in prison with no possibility of parole in Supermax facility - which seems to me and reportedly to most Lifers like a more slowly carried out death sentence.

Many conservatives differentiate between capital punishment and abortion, saying that the condemned deserve to die, as do solidiers, but the unborn do not. I believe they are missing the point. As human beings, we are not entitled to an opinion as to whether someone deserves to die or not. I agree with the bishops on this one. Guilt or innocence at the moral level is God's call, not ours.

The reason for personal weapondry, capital punishment, war and even for abortion is not that the person being killed is guilty, but because they pose a danger to ones self and others. It is dangerous to carry a pregnancy to term if doing so offers no benefit to a child with a fatal genetic flaw, like trisomy 17, or if the pregnancy would kill a small child carrying twins or a woman in Arizona with pulmonary hypertension.

It is not a moral stand to be squeemish and allow another person to die. Personal martyrdom is celebrated precisely because it is optional, not imposed. While it is meritorious to give one's life for another, it cannot be required as a matter of law or medical practice (especially when the child in question has absolutely no chance of independent survival). There must be a difference between giving up your life and throwing it away when doing so offers no benefit to another.

Indeed, with few grisly exceptions like the uncertified abortionist in Philadelphia, most abortion providers do so not because they are craven or blood thirsty, but because they believe that the women they serve would attempt the procedure without medical assistance. This is why simply jailing doctors should not be considered the faithful response to this issue. Rather, making women not desparate by making sure they can afford not only the pregnancy, but also both child rearing, their own educations and the education of their children is what is called for. That is much more in keeping with the Gospel than using armed officers to arrest abortionists.

Russell Shaws comments in the Arlington Catholic Herald

2011-01-24T09:45:00.003-05:00

In last week's Arlington Catholic Herald, Russell Shaw commented on why there is not more enthusiasm for the repeal of abortion. He blames "the right to choose" for it. I suspect he misses the point. You can read his essay at http://www.catholicherald.com/opinions/detail.html?sub_id=14782

I don't suspect that libertarian thinking has infected the populace on this issue to as great an extent as Shaw maintains. If it did, the War on Drugs would have long been ended.

The real reason for the lack of action on this issue is how the movement has fetishized repealing Roe. This won't happen, as Justices Roberts and Alito refused to do so when given a chance under the Partial Birth Abortion case. If Roe were as badly reasoned law as the pro-life movement suggests, they would have done so. Their mistake is that they bring natural law reasoning rather than legal reasoning to the task, which is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Roe is reasonable because the plain language of the 14th Amendment says legal personhood begins at birth, unless Congress uses its enforcement power under the amendment, and it sovereign power as the national legislature, to pick a different point.

Relying on the Federalist Society's view that this should be a state decision is plainly wrong - again, due to the plain language of the 14th Amendment, which federalized the question of who is and who is not a legal person. Without personhood, the only real possible decision was that abortion was a private matter between a woman and her doctor. Considering that the penalty for abortion was a fine on doctors, not the criminal penalties for all concerned like murder, current law did nothing to give the impression to the Court that the goal of abortion law was to control women's health and not to protect an unprotected class of people.

Focusing on Roe relieves the pro-life movement and its leaders in the hierarchy from dealing with the quandry of HOW to extend rights to the unborn. It is not up to Obama,or even to Catholic voters and legislators to come up with this solution - it is up to the partisans to do so.

The onus of change is clearly on the movement. Until it has a proposal, neither Obama nor Biden need do the movement's work for them. We can, however, point out the obstacles the movement must overcome to put forward legislation:

- dealing with making sure that natural miscarriages don't produce malpractice suits because a legal person dies without at the same time violating the equal protection rights of these legal persons

- deciding how criminal responsibility is meted out in killing a legal person without violating the equal protection rights of doctors by exempting mothers

- deciding how much power to give the state in investigating the deaths of legal persons - or how to avoid investigators borrowing families who have had miscarriages without leaving a hole in the law so big that the law is unenforceable.

It is not up to pro-choice Catholic politicians to resolve these quandries for you and until you propose a bill that deals with them (essentially by ignoring first trimester pregnancies), it is irresponsible to say that Abortion is the number one issue on which politicians are to be judged. In fact, without some draft legislation that addresses the issues I raise responsibly, ABORTION IS NOT A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE AT ALL and pro-choice Catholics should be forgiven for not basing their vote upon it.

The better way to reduce the vast majority of abortions is to use the power of the law to make child rearing economically viable. This would involve an expanded refundable Child Tax Credit of $500 per month per jurisdiction per child and an end to parental responsibilities to pay for college. Do that and none will abort for economic reasons. The Church should also offer an example of how this works by actually tying pay to family size, making sure it is adequate and making sure that all employees (and Catholic youth in a family way - both parents) have their higher education needs met at Catholic high schools and universities. If the Church acts seriously on protecting life, voters might believe the rhetoric.

Abortion policy's legal and moral realities | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

Abortion policy's legal and moral realities | National Catholic Reporter An NCR Interview with George Dennis O'Brien

My response:

I disagree with the authorn and Aquinas on ensoulment. The question of ensoulment centers on what a soul is. Materialistically, which is the only thing we can test out, it is the life force that begins deliberative development and holds off entropy, which occurs rather markedly at death and does not occur before gasrulation.

Prior to gastrulation, removing stem cells from the blastocyst won't result in any lasting damage to the child - indeed twinning could occur - either by nature or manufacture. Of late, Catholic theologians have been making the unfounded claim that at this time God adds a soul. Poppycock! During this time period before gastrulation, hybids with a non-human parent develop in exactly the same way as fully human blastocysts. Unless you infer that the non-human hybrid has a soul, you cannot infer that the human blastocyst does as well. Science has also shown that the maternal DNA controls developoment at this stage - that development based on both parents does not occur until gastrulation.

At gastrulation, something is different. Development comes from the genes of both parents and seems to have a different motivating force, which could be called a soul.

As to the question of the Bishops and abortion - if they have a position on outlawing abortion, it is incumbent upon them to produce legislation that deals with the issues of criminality, malpractice if the fetus dies and enforcement, including the onerous power to investigate miscarriages (without which your abortion law contains an exception planned parenthood could drive a truck through). Until the bishops man up and produce a bill, they cannot deny anyone Communion for opposing something that does not exist.

Bp Tobin "Unimpressed" With Obama's Tucson Speech | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Bp Tobin "Unimpressed" With Obama's Tucson Speech | National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters

As long as repealing Roe is the sin qua non of the pro-life movement, Bishop Tobin, A/B Dolan and Michael Sean Winters will be stuck in a rut. While Roe was tragic, it was not wrong.

Jurisdictionally, the ruling is correct - whether a fetus is a person or not cannot be an issue decided by the States (and should not be - doing so would tear the nation apart much as the question of slavery did). The 14th Amendment makes this a federal question. The unambiguous language of the amendment also makes birth the absolute marker for recognition - however Congress can adjust it under its enforcement powers under the amendment and its rights as THE sovereign legislature.

Focusing on Roe is also irresponsible, meaning it relieves the pro-life movement and its leaders in the hierarchy from dealing with the quandry of HOW to extend rights to the unborn. It is not up to Obama,or even to Catholic legislators to come up with this solution - it is up to the partisans to do so.

The onus of change is clearly on the movement. Until it has a proposal, neither Obama nor Biden need do the movement's work for them. We can, however, point out the obstacles the movement must overcome to put forward legislation:

- dealing with making sure that natural miscarriages don't produce malpractice suits because a legal person dies without at the same time violating the equal protection rights of these legal persons

- deciding how criminal responsibility is meted out in killing a legal person without violating the equal protection rights of doctors by exempting mothers

- deciding how much power to give the state in investigating the deaths of legal persons - or how to avoid investigators borrowing families who have had miscarriages without leaving a hole in the law so big that the law is unenforceable.

It is not up to pro-choice Catholic politicians to resolve these quandries for you and until you propose a bill that deals with them (essentially by ignoring first trimester pregnancies), it is irresponsible to say that Abortion is the number one issue on which politicians are to be judged. In fact, without some draft legislation that addresses the issues I raise responsibly, ABORTION IS NOT A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE AT ALL.

Much-praised pastor becomes a bishop | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

Much-praised pastor becomes a bishop | National Catholic Reporter

On the Communion issue, the bishops have not coherently said HOW abortion should be banned. Until that happens, there is no policy for Catholic politicians to adhere to.

I like what he is doing with Administrators - however this role should be given the office of Deacon or Deaconness, without any kind of promise of celibacy or duty of continence. I suspect he knows this but is taking small steps.

Phoenix bishop's response to hospital ignites questions of authority, identity | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

Phoenix bishop's response to hospital ignites questions of authority, identity | National Catholic Reporter

The bottom line really is that its not his hospital. Perhaps the bishops should get out of the business of judging the bioethics of hospitals that they do not own, since the seem to own most everything else in the diocese under the conventions of Canon Law. Their moral voice would be stronger without the perception that they are attempting to exercise ownership where they have none. Indeed, it would really be strengthened if they turned over all administration and property rights to more modern non-profit corporate structures and became official paupers - like the sisters who do actually own the hospitals.

On the bioethics question, perhaps the locus of study should be with Catholic Health Association and its owning Orders rather than the Bishops. While the Bishops should surely discuss and advise CHA, they should not try to micromanage within someone else's structure, either individually or as a group. CHA does its own work on Catholic identity. They don't need the USCCB for that function.

Catholic Higher Education institutes should also be the locus of the Church's response to bioethics in research, both in their institutions and in society at large. The bishops have enough to deal with on the ethical side without messing up someone else's sandbox.

Obama's Problem | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-19T01:10:00.000-05:00

Obama's Problem | National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters

My comments:

Many who oppose Obama on health care want a more generous benefit. About a third of the opposition to his approach is liberal. If you simply poll pro-reform of some kind vs. the prior status quo, the numbers are much higher than 43%.

Many don't approve of his handling of the economy because they see too many people in trouble - and they are right to feel that way. Some of his economic advisors, luckily of the former variety, discouraged more radical action and the result is obvious. If a bigger stimulus and more direct aid for underwater home borrowers had been insisted upon and obtained, the economy likely would be in better shape now.

As to the speech, oddly enough every wonk in town, as well as every cause, wants their issue included. Statehood advocates want their mention. Aging issue wonks want demographic issues to be highlighted for both health and Social Security.

He can't listen to everyone. Hopefuly his new chief of staff will get him to listen to the right people. I am sure it will be a good speech - as it is the last hurrah of Robert Gibbs and the opening salvo in the 2012 election. This will set the tone. If he muffs it, he may get primaried. I don't think he'll muff it.

Canonist Says Deacons Must Refrain From Sex | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-19T00:53:00.000-05:00

Canonist Says Deacons Must Refrain From Sex | National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters

Frankly, I hope this sparks a debate about the Canons on continence and how these just might be based in misogyny from the classical era. Indeed, re-examining the Canons should cause a rethinking of priestly celibacy, female ordination and the entire body of teaching on sexuality, since one obviously affects the other.

Catholic and Orthodox Unity: Close Enough to Imagine | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-19T00:45:00.000-05:00

Catholic and Orthodox Unity: Close Enough to Imagine | National Catholic Reporter by Fr. Thomas Ryan

My comments:

The claim of Rome to be first among bishops may be scuttled if the current Pope is identified as urging the Church in Irelad to cover up sexual abuse. If this crisis goes on much longer, Rome will be too damaged to lead anything - and rightly so.

At some point, recognizing the equality of the Church of England is essential as well to this - indeed, it may be more productive for the Orthodox to have separate talks with Canterbury rather than including Rome in the loop - while letting the African Anglicans (and African anglophone Catholics) pusue unity with Alexandria.

If a more orthodox approach is indicated as far as government, than this new set of agreements is but a short step away from a single North American, or even northern anglophone Patriarch for the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox Churchs, with England, Scotland and Ireland joining with Canada and the United States to form a single Church - allowing the Orthodox of South America and the Catholics of spanish South American to form a single Church, with or without Spain, and leaving Brazil and Portugal to their own Patriarch. Quebec, Haiti and France could also unite under one Patriarch. This bridges the gap between having national churches and a universal church. Linguistic divisions seem to be the best organizational modality, at least to me.

What Tucson Doesn't Mean | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-10T13:59:00.000-05:00

What Tucson Doesn't Mean National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters.

There is definitely reason to politicize this tragedy, but not regarding the political discourse. Instead, this should open the conversation about how poorly we fund services to the mentally ill (giving them Medicaid does not help if doctors won't take it) and how hard it is to confine them when they refuse treatment or relapse within it.

This guy should not only not have had a gun, he should not have been walking around at-large. His college should have not only been able to insist he go, but alert the authorities so that he was both evaluated and treated.

How the mentally ill are treated in the criminal justice system should be changed. Obviously deranged killers (through either addiction, alcoholism or mental illness) should be able to plead Guilty By Reason of Insanity and be confined to at least the minimum treatment for the crime committed or until safe, whichever comes last. In the present example, the period would be for six counts of voluntary manslaughter with some leeway as to whether they should be consecutive or concurrent.

Dolan, Abortion & NOW | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-10T13:39:00.000-05:00

Dolan, Abortion & NOW National Catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winter

It is good A/B Dolan is taking this step - but he needs to take one step farther and give free tuition to any teenage couple in a family way at both the high school and college level and make sure their living and day care expenses are met as well.

He should also pay families in his employ a living wage, meaning that if someone has a child, they get a $1000 per month raise to cover expenses (if not more, given housing prices in NYC). He should also lobby for tax policy so that the state and the fed each kick in $500 per month per child.

As for Roe being unjust - yes and no. It was surely unfortunate, but under the constitutional rules for who has protection and how they should get it, the ruling was absolutely just. Who is a person is a matter of federal jurisdiction, not state and until someone is a person, their interests are not to be considered in public policy (that's privacy). A constitutional amendment is not needed to do this, however caution is.

One cannot begin life at conception - or even gastrulation - and not consider what would happen to society if each person were given equal access to justice after that point (meaning that abortion would not be punished as a medical misdomeanor but as a felony with all concerned - including mothers - subject to punishment and that all failed pregnancies would be subject to some type of investigation - including natural miscarriage - as well as tort action - thereby denying care for anyone who has a pregnancy until the danger of miscarriage is passed (at the behest of insurers). An adult policy would take the paranthetical issues into consideration. It is not up to pro-choice Catholic politicians to come up with work-arounds and until the pro-life side does, pro-choice pols get a free ride.

As for NOW, they are pretty much pro-abortion - however, unless they had a draft of his speech, they protested because they expected the worst. It would take both the economic measures I mentioned previously, the ordination of women and a rethinking of how crisis pregnancies are dealt with - like in Phoenix and Brazil where the child has no chance of living and therefore no right to life - for them to stop their opposition to Church policy.

St. Joseph’s Hospital: A phoenix in the desert | National Catholic Reporter

2011-01-04T13:37:00.000-05:00

St. Joseph’s Hospital: A phoenix in the desert | National Catholic Reporter

While the Bishop directed that the Eucharist be removed, a little reporting is warranted as to whether this has, in fact, occurred. I would hope that it is being reserved somewhere clandestinely in the same way that the archbishop who confirmed me, Nick Elko, would sneak the Eucharist through Kremlin Square when he was the Catholic Archbishop of Moscow or when he said Mass in the Gulag - and yes, I am equating Olmsted with Stalin.

Time to Reform the Budget Process - TheFiscalTimes.com

2011-01-02T16:55:00.000-05:00

Time to Reform the Budget Process - TheFiscalTimes.com by Bruce Bartlett.

I disagree with ending the President's budget and submit my own alternative.

While the President's budget is dead on arrival many years, the estimates from the agencies are absolutely essential. Exploiting this need for information is the key to passing a budget on time.

The budget process, which should be biennial, should begin with the President's transmission of a Joint Budget Resolution, which must be enacted and signed before detailed estimates are transmitted. I seem to recall that Bush actually did this one year. I seem to remember that it worked so well that Congress was not pleased. (CBO should by law be restricted from assisting appropriations committees on a detailed level until the JBR is passed).

The detailed budget submission must then reconcile to the JBR and if Congress does not act on any tax bill or appropriation, current law is automatically extended within the JBR baseline.

That is the less radical provision. The really radical provision is to do regional taxation and spending - although it would take a constitutional amendment for region-specific VAT rates. Each region would pay for discretionary spending within the region with a VAT and non-retirement social service spending with a regional expanded business income tax (including military retirement).

There would be a national VAT as well to fund purely national spending, like NIH and NASA, while an income surtax would fund net interest, debt repayment to the Social Security Trust fund and other trust fund repayments as well as overseas military deployments and other international operations (including third world IMF debt forgiveness).

The process would be similar to the one outlined above, with the president submitting national appropriations targets, revenue targets at the national and regional levels and regional appropriations aggregates. The Congress would enact a JBR along those lines and then the President and the Regional Vice Presidents would submit detailed budget numbers to the national and regional caucuses, which must be passed by the begining of the fiscal biennium.

Regions would have a balanced budget requirmeent, with automatic VAT and business income tax hikes and budget cuts occurring in the event of a projected deficit during the biennium, unless the national caucus acts to subsidize a region that is both out of budget balance and in recession.

The national government could continue to run deficits in time of war or recession, but must be balanced through adjustments to income and VAT rates and automatic budget cuts in times of peace and prosperity - although the goal would actually be debt reduction (and elimination of the Paulistas win the day and gain enough votes to "End the Fed" - although that could never happen unless the debt were entirely repaid).

The uniqueness of Jesus | National Catholic Reporter

2010-12-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

The uniqueness of Jesus National Catholic Reporter

Father is smart to publicly ignore the USCCB and Rome as long as possible. No good can come from poking them with a stick.

I like what he says about Jesus as a man of faith. Indeed, Man of Faith is one of his titles. My take on it is that the way Jesus found out about his identity as Son of God was through the Scriptures rather than some mental hotline to the Divine. While he was filled with the Spirit, as the man of faith, he had to do the head work for himself.

As to his mental anguish on the cross, I suspect it to be entirely authentic and not at all hopeful. If one reads all four Gospels, one can come to the truth. Just prior to this moment, in John, he gives the care of his mother over to his beloved disciple (rather than telling this disciple to carry on his mission). In other words, he cuts himself off from the source of his divinity - his virgin birth (whose recollections also must have informed him of his divine nature). He also cuts off his mission.

Doing these things likely fills him with the anguish he needs to authentically call out to God in despair. The fact that this despair is the essence of salvation can be demostrated by his drinking of the fruit of the vine at this next moment after the statement "I thirst." If drinking the vinegar falls into the promise that he wait to do so until he is in his Father's kingdom, then it must already be fulfilled, even before his death. The alternative is that the whole of Christianity is a sham, for he indeed drink the fruit of the vine before he died, although he refused it when first crucified.

The Pro-life Implications of the Story of Joseph

2010-12-27T13:16:00.003-05:00

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde preached about the example of St. Joseph and the Gabriel Project at the annual respect for life Mass on the fourth Sunday of Advent. The homily can be found at http://www.catholicherald.com/bishop/detail.html?sub_id=14583

The Gospel for that Mass have even greater pro-life implications than even the Bishop taught. Joseph had three options under the Law when he found that Mary was with child. They were divorce her quietly, take her into his home and accuse her of adultery and have her drink an herbal solution which causes miscarriage, which if successful would lead to her stoning under the law. In essence, he could have both forced her to have an abortion and then have her killed since the abortion would prove she was pregnant by someone other than him.

Not resorting to this option was the ultimate pro-life act, as it affirms both the right to life of her child and the right to life of the mother, who would have presumed to have committed adultery and thus be liable for execution in what would be described in modern day custom as an honor killing (which still occurs in the region, though not in Israel).

The guarding of the right to life of both the child and the mother should guide our teachings on abortion, as the Gabriel Project does, as well as the progressive desire to fight abortion with expanded benefits and living wage protections for the poor (like increased minimum wages and health care reform).

Revelation of the Magi

2010-12-27T12:15:00.003-05:00

Brent Landau has translated The Revelation of the Magi from Syriac from a manuscript found in the Vatican Library. In it, the Magi are said to have come in response to visions, rather than simply the promptings of astrology. They are said to come from the land of Shir, which the author speculates to be China. This manuscript is in the tradition of other non-canonical works on the early life of Jesus which seem to be based largely on speculation rather than reportage, although they may still reflect underlying truths. The link to purchase the book is at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Revelation-of-the-Magi/Brent-Landau/e/9780062020239/?pv=y&inframe=y. This work was recently reviewed in the Arlington Catholic Herald at http://www.catholicherald.com/detail.html?sub_id=14437

Whether the manuscript is true or not is lost to the ages, although the story it lays out seems more like pious wondering than a statement of what actually happened - although the Shir concept is interesting.

I would suspect that instead of China, the site of Shir is India, which like China had a developed system of astrology and also may have had a thriving exile community of Israelites. Recent analysis of the Romany lead to the belief that these people, who were in India at the time, were members of the lost tribes of Israel - the inhabitants of the northern kingdom who were taken in exile by the Assyrians. Might the Magi have been Romany astrologers? If so, it would upset the current understanding that they were Gentiles, but it would be consistent with prophesies of the return to Zion on dromedaries bearing gifts to the Christ child that are used on the Feast of the Epiphany.

What is even more interesting is relating this possiblity with the legend that Thomas the Apostle evangelized India and reached the Romany community there, who when they returned from India went to Europe rather than what was then Muslim Palestine. It adds a whole new meaning to the words of the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel if captive Israel refers to the lost tribes who were soon evangelized and are not lost at all but right in front of us all, especially in Europe. As I have written previously, this definitely has interesting implications for relations with Israel and the apocolyptic hopes of Evangelicals as part of that.

Merry Christmas from the Christian Left!

2010-12-23T12:22:00.003-05:00

My Christmas show was last night on Blog Talk Radio (the link is on the pane to the right).

I wish you Peace this Christmas Season.

No direct abortion at Phoenix hospital, theologian says | National Catholic Reporter

2010-12-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

No direct abortion at Phoenix hospital, theologian says National Catholic Reporter By Jerry Filteau

Since no process was afforded to Sr. Margaret, whether or not she is excommunicate is between her, God and her confessor. If the bishop wants real penalties, he must afford her the full process of canon law for direct excommunication and risk being told by experts that he is wrong. If he does that, then he may have to take the issue of calumny to his confessor.

About Condoms

2010-11-23T12:33:00.002-05:00

It is being reported that the Vatican is saying that it is better to use condoms than to infect someone with HIV and kill them. I'm glad they are finally saying it - many of us have been thinking it since the mid-1980s. Among many, Michael Sean Winters writes about this in the National Catholic Reporter.

The birth control conversation, however, is not just about preventing disease. This Pope is taking the conversation on contraception back to where it should be and away from the absolutism where it has previously lived. More importantly, Caritas in Veritate emphasized how birth control is a capitulation to economic reality that no Catholic family need take. Economic reality must bend to procreation, not the other way around. The Church must always stand with the poor and their freedom to grow their families without starving, whether in the developing world or the Catholic middle class.

This is where I part company with the advocates of natural family planning, who seem to have no such qualms about telling families not to have more kids, but just by doing it the culturally approved Catholic way. Natural family planning should never be encouraged for economic reasons (that is a cop out to economic power) - it should only be used for health reasons - and I suspect if you make this leap, one can more easily see that the same motiviations make artificial birth control a less frightening moral concept - particularly in cases where another pregnancy could be deadly for the mother.

Why Republicans Aren’t Serious About the Deficit - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-20T10:19:00.000-05:00

Why Republicans Aren’t Serious About the Deficit - TheFiscalTimes.com

Good essay by Bruce Bartlett. It is an interesting irony that the CBO chief that let Part D slide in is now the chief GOP scold on the budget. He knows where the bodies are buried, since he buried them.

I suspect that the reason the GOP is not serious about debt reduction is because they see the national debt as a benefit program for the wealthy, who are paid interest for holding it. This has been their default position since Alexander Hamilton and forms the basis for an aristocracy of wealth in this nation.

There is not way to shame them into responsiblity and no need to in the immediate term. The fiscal crisis which will cause action will come soon enough - when pre-existing condition reforms kick in and the private insurance market collapses.

There are three possible fixes for this - although they could occur sooner than later should the Republicans collectively grow a brain or hire competent brains to advise them this time. The three fixes are:

Single-payer catastrophic insurance for all, including those on Medicare and Medicaid, with the Health Savings Account portion paid by the employer or the Government and a Flexible Spending component paid by the beneficiary out of their salary or benefit checks. If HSAs are not accessed and remain at full balance, the funding for them would result in higher salaries or benefit checks for the individual.

The second option is straight up single payer insurance - which will occur if the Democrats or Greens take control of Congress and the White House due to Republican dithering.

The third option is the repeal of pre-existing condition reforms in exchange for the creation of a strong public option (either with a catastrophic/HSA component or as a comprehensive policy). This must be done before private insurance collapses. Of course, under this option, most sick people will eventually be on the public option, which will lead to popular pressure to ban private insurance.

The public components of each option will require expanded revenues - at which point the Medicare and Medicaid underfunding problems will be addressed. The Democrats will want to soak the rich, which is not appropriate. Since benefits are broad based, the revenue source must be as well - indeed probably more broad based than the payroll tax. Then the question becomes whether the levy should be on consumers through a VAT or through a slightly more hidden expanded business income tax. The strengths of the latter are that private insurance can be preserved as an offset - which can be offerred to just employees or to retirees and former employees as well (with an exchange market to "trade liability" for former employee coverage so that only the last employer writes the check but is not stuck with the entire cost - I want a Nobel for that idea) - and that the more hidden the tax, the more likely it can be set at a high enough rate to be adequate. A VAT, especially one that mimics a sales tax, risks underfunding health care.

In the end, unless people are willing to put up with the kind of hard to get health care most often associated with the Medicaid program, the answer cannot be cutting either doctor's fees (which will cause doctors to not accept Medicare patients) or repealing Medicare Part D. It must come from adequate funding, which means the GOP cannot be counted on to do it.

Turning Turkeys into Cash Cows on Thanksgiving - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

Turning Turkeys into Cash Cows on Thanksgiving - TheFiscalTimes.com

Sadly, the food banks have no turkeys, so all is not good on the Thanksgiving front.

On the football front, I predict easy wins for the Pats, the Saints and the Jets.

Mad Money: How QE2 Set Off a Global Chain Reaction - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

Mad Money: How QE2 Set Off a Global Chain Reaction - TheFiscalTimes.com

This report definitely puts to lie the contention that the Wall Street Journal ad had anything to do with bond prices.

Pumping liquidity in won't help but so much, especially if this simply leads to Asian inflation.

The answer is certainly not politicization. The Fed is going nowhere until the debt it holds is paid off by wealthy taxpayers through a higher income tax - Tea Party delusions to the contrary.

What is most necessary is for the Fed, the GSEs, VA and FHA to do mortgage modifications, which they so far have avoided. I know some are advising that the bubble can be reinflated in housing. That would be bad policy. The only real option is for investors to take their haircut now.

The Tea Party: Ready to Rumble - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-17T15:23:00.000-05:00

The Tea Party: Ready to Rumble - TheFiscalTimes.com

If they think that they have the leverage to enact permanent tax reform for the wealthy, they are truly dreaming.

How to think about abortion

2010-11-17T11:28:00.000-05:00

How to think about abortion by Frances Kisserling on her reflections from the October Open Hearts, Open Minds and Fair Minded Words conference at Princeton.

She covers the water front on how both sides seem to think about the issue and I think everyone was heard, however it seems that there is much yet unsaid and very much yet undone.

The challenge I have for both sides is to support an economic plan that makes abortion unnecessary, with the key feature being a living wage of $1000 per month per child paid from tax credits but with wages - with half the credit from the federal side and half from the state. Such a credit could replace the mortgage interest deduction but would still lead to more housing, since this is what growing families spend most of their additional money on. The credit could also replace most other income support entitlements for families, allowing a serious reduction in the social welfare bureaucracy. Indeed, the only parts that should remain are subsidized health care (which may be mooted by an eventual move to single-payer) and remedial adult-literacy education - which students should be paid to attend (receiving the associated tax credits as if they were working) and the education provider serving as paymaster.

I suspect most of the resistance to this will be on the pro-life side, since being socially conservative usually carries with it economic conservatism - although not always. This is all the more reason to raise the issue, which would also challenge Democrats who want abortion to be safe, legal and rare.

The pro-life side must also be taken to task for their focus on the moral rights of the fetus and their failure to actually propose legislation which takes the status quo into account. Since they propose change, it is up to them to deal with the legal rights questions, both how to grant them without overturning Roe judicially (which would damage all equal protection law) while at the same time preventing tort actions that would lead to the denial of medicare to all women and children in the first trimester, as well as preventing the investigative arm of the state from questioning women who have had a miscarriage. Doing this in law while granting legal rights in the first trimester (or even the first 20 weeks) is not as easy as it sounds - indeed, it is probably impossible. The pro-choice side needs to make the power of the state the focus, or it will continue to face an onslaught from activists and pulpits on this issue, with the related electoral demagoguery.

Summers, Not Geithner, Sought to Sink Volcker Rule - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-15T16:26:00.000-05:00

Summers, Not Geithner, Sought to Sink Volcker Rule - TheFiscalTimes.com

This is not really a shocker. I suspect that mortgage modifications were not made mandatory for Freddie and Fannie because of Summers as well. I also suspect that he had something to do with a 20% capital gains tax rate, rather than taxing these gains as ordinary income (which helped lead to the Tech Bubble). The fact that he is gone is a relief, although had is advice not been heeded, the Democrats might have done better two weeks ago.

Focus on Monetary Policy - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

Focus on Monetary Policy - TheFiscalTimes.com

The answer still lies in the quality, not the quantity of the stimulus. Until easing also means mortgage modification, the economy will continue to wallow in the mire. I suspect that this analysis will be lost amidst the Fiscal Commission coverage.

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Fiscal Commission Draft vs. Center for Fiscal Equity Proposal

2010-11-11T08:43:00.000-05:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Fiscal Commission Draft vs. Center for Fiscal Equity Proposal

Mind numbing detail on the road not taken. My proposal is much more radical while less painful to the have nots (and more painful to the haves).

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: The Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs' Draft is released

2010-11-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: The Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs' Draft is released contains my thoughts on the prospects of this reform going anywhere. There is actually a significant chance it will if the Chinese have anything to say about it (unless gridlock stops the Lame Duck session from passing the Middle Class tax cuts).

$4 Trillion Cut from Budget Sacred Cows in New Plan - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

$4 Trillion Cut from Budget Sacred Cows in New Plan - TheFiscalTimes.com

More coverage of the Fiscal Commission. They seem a bit late but their details do add value. I like Cote's comments about China - which indicate why something may yet come of this.

Rivlin is being coy - I suspect she had a hand in the drafting. Raising the retirement age to 68 in 40 years, to 69 in 65 years and giving less to the rich and more to the poor - while making the rich pay on more of their income - is hardly a gutting of the program. It also has Alice's fingerprints all over it. My advice to the left is take it before the right wing notices it got screwed.

Plenty of Critics, But Where Are the Health Care Reform Defenders? - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-10T21:20:00.000-05:00

Plenty of Critics, But Where Are the Health Care Reform Defenders? - TheFiscalTimes.com

No one is bothering because they know the GOP is blowing smoke. Nothing needs to be said to defend health care because the Republicans don't have the votes to do anything about it on their own.

I suspect that there will be compromise in the future, however the current GOP is not interested. Two options are single payer catastrophic health care and the repeal of coverage mandates paired with a public option - however nothing will be done this Congress.

Tea Party Rallying Cry: Abolish the Federal Reserve! - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-10T20:42:00.000-05:00

Tea Party Rallying Cry: Abolish the Federal Reserve! - TheFiscalTimes.com

The Tea Party is woefully uninformed as to why the Federal Reserve has the power the do. It is because they hold a large share of the nation's debt. It cannot be abolished until the debt is paid off - and paying off that much can only be done by large income tax increases on the wealthy and upper middle class.

Fiscal Commission at Impasse over Debt Reduction - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-10T19:48:00.000-05:00

Fiscal Commission at Impasse over Debt Reduction - TheFiscalTimes.com

This report is a bit dated, since the Fiscal Commission's co-chairs released their reports today. They were panned by activists from both sides, who probably would not have liked any result. The test is whether this packages is based on preliminary consensus or is simply based on a staff report. If it is the former, it could very well become law under the right conditions. If it is the latter, it is an interesting example of an incremental "school solution" which would likely work if foreign holders of the national debt start dumping dollars.

Whether these recommendations are DOA or not has as much to do with the demands of our creditors as it does with domestic consensus. If bond markets crash because this report is considered just so much waste paper, they will get a second look. The only realistic alternative, aside from more radical changes (like the imposition of a VAT, is the expiration of the Bush Tax cuts - not just on the wealthy, but on the middle class as well.

Weigel on Moynihan - Revised

2010-11-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

George Weigel wrote in the Arlington Catholic Herald this week about the career of Daniel Patrick Monynihan as a Catholic in public life. He lauded his accomplishments and abilities and then dinged the former Senator for not paying more attention to Life issues. You can read his essay at http://www.catholicherald.com/opinions/detail.html?sub_id=14200

Earlier today, I published a response critical of Weigel misunderstanding what he said about Moynihan voting against the partial birth abortion bill, when Weigel stated that Moynihan never voted against abortion UNTIL that bill. I apologize for getting the facts wrong. I do not apologize, however, for disagreeing with Weigel on the impact of the Senator's career. Moynihan probably did more for the unborn than any Senator in history, precisely because he voted to increase the social welfare programs that made abortion less likely. I suspect he also saw through the political nature of most of the legislative program advanced in the name of life. There are many possible ways to protect human life legislatively, however overturning Roe by appointing justices who will do so is not one of them, since such a ruling would tear down much in the way of current equal protection precident (which conservatives loathe as much as Roe, but which actually protects the Church in areas of the South where there are few Catholics and where many still cling to the belief that the pope is the antichrist). So, even though I was wrong on the factoid Weigel cites, I still vehemently disagree with his conclusion. Indeed, Senator Moynihan provides a sterling example of exactly how Catholic politicians, voters and clergy should look at the issue of abortion.

Election post mortem - life issues

2010-11-07T12:57:00.002-05:00

Before the election, I wondered about what to do when all three congressional candidates are pro-choice. I posted the article here and on the Examiner, DailyKos, and Open Salon. In this article, I stated that when all candidates are pro-choice, (and even when they are not), the pro-life voting strategy should look at which candidate's party will increase or decrease the incidence of abortion. That candidate is usually the Democrat.

In Virginia 08, the Democrat won and will undoubtedly vote for policies that are better for families - especially given a likely Republican onslaught against economic policies that include what Catholic doctrine calls an option for the poor, both in tax subsidies and in benefit programs.

Overall, the pro-life cause suffers, as under the pressure of bad economic times, unemployment extensions beyond the Lame Duck session will likely cease and tax benefits for families will likely be reduced unless the current majority enacts the latter within the month on a permanent basis (the Making Work Pay credit enacted under the Recovery Act and the expanded Child Tax Credit enacted in 2001 by President Bush). Welfare reform will also likely include punitive measures, which Obama suspended in the Recovery Act, limiting welfare benefits - so it is likely that the number of abortions will eventually increase.

More specifically, part of the Republican wave was the replacement of 23 conservative, pro-life Democrats with Republicans. The net result on support for abortion is these cases is nil, but the support for policies that would reduce abortions is negative - so I would have to call the Republican wave a bad thing for the unborn. Pro-life activists (particularly at the highest levels of the Catholic Church) should look long and hard at their motives, given these results.

Part Two of the bishops' letter

2010-11-07T12:10:00.003-05:00

In this past week's edition of the Arlington Catholic Herald, the second part of a two part letter on the election from the Virginia Catholic Conference was posted. This essay is entitled "Voting is the tip of the iceberg." In this essay, the bishops describe how they wish to build an advocacy network all through the year and speak of the importance of prayer. The article has not been posted on the web page as of yet - so I have no link to offer this week.

When bishops speak on the issues, to an extent they are doing so in the name of their flocks. Gaining some consensus on what to say on matters where the concern is political, rather than theological, seems wise. In the ancient Church, bishops were elected, so their representativeness was not an issue so much as a problem, since often an entire city church would hold heretical views. During the Classical period, when the Church as an organ pf and then a replacement for the Empire, the authority of the bishops included suppressing heresy, which was needed, and thinking for the people, which was not. In the days of enlightened despotism, Catholic monarchs - and later Protestant ones, desired to appoint their bishops and Rome rightly stepped in to prevent this overreach by the civil government. With much of western Christendom in the hands of the people, however, such papal protection is no longer necessary to ensure the independence of the Church. Until the means of episcopal election is reformed, however, consultation is necessary.

I dearly wish the bishops would consult with their flocks more on Life issues, especially with those of us who disagree with how the issues are being pursued. Focusing on Roe is not the answer, nor is electing a President who would appoint justices to repeal Roe. Indeed, the last two Republican appointees who were appointed for this reason specifically refused to do so when given the opportunity on the partial birth abortion case . Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito were thought to be the answer to pro-life prayers, but instead joined with Justice Kennedy in finding other grounds for letting the Partial Birth Abortion Act stand. Realizing that judicial repeal was a dead letter, two lawyers who had been prominent in the pro-life movement supported President Obama in the last election, with one being denied Communion on one occasion (an action that, thankfully, Virginia bishops do not undertake). I find it odd, however, that no one in the movement called for denying Communion to Roberts, Kennedy and Alito, but yet would deny it to Pelosi, Biden and Moran -who's involvement in the issue is much more tangential.

So, if I had the bishop's ear, what would I tell them? I would tell them to focus on living wages for families and opportunities for youth who keep their children in order to reduce the number of abortions. I would start by increasing the pay of any Virginia Catholic employee who has another child by at least $12,000 per year - and by giving free High School and College tuition to both teen parents should the girl become pregnant, as well as a stipend for living expenses. Since a living wage is unaffordable for many small businesses, I would ask them to advocate for an increased refundable child tax credit of $500 per month per child at both the state and federal levels - payable with wages rather than at the end of the year.

Support for tax credit legislation should be the litmus test for pro-life voting, not opposition to Roe v. Wade - or even a non-existent abortion ban bill that would have to be federal and would have to deal with the issues of tort liability for miscarriage and police power in investigating miscarriages. The latter two issues must be dealt with if Congress granted rights to the unborn. I don't see how this could be done without simply ignoring first trimester abortions, since making exceptions would make any first trimester ban unenforceable.

Finally, I would call for the bishops to excommunicate any Catholic business owner or stockholder who does not pay employees a living wage, since doing so effectively condemns any pregnancies the employees would have to termination. Such an omission is more of a cause of abortions than is failure to vote for an abortion ban that has not even been introduced.

Trying to cure gays in Arlington

2010-11-07T07:46:00.004-05:00

The Arlington Catholic Herald reports a rather spooky conference held in the Arlington Diocese on overcoming same sex attraction on the day before Halloween. It was hosted by Fr. Paul Scalia, the chaplain for the Courage Apostolate, Deacon Bery Levy of the Meir Clinics in Rockville and Jonah, one of the Courage members. You can view the story at http://www.catholicherald.com/local_news/detail.html?sub_id=14222

Followers of this space know that I have been commenting about a series by Fr. Scalia over the past several weeks (although I am sure there are conservative Catholics who are scandalized that I would argue with a Priest, especially one whose father serves on the SCOTUS). The articles provided publicity for the conference. A few of the high points reported is the assertion that same sex attraction is more prevalent today.

I disagree with this. It is obviously more prominent, because gays and lesbians are no longer hiding from society, which in former days attached criminal penalties to homosexual acts in private and treated homosexuals as mentally ill, sometimes with incarceration in a mental health facility. Now that these sanctions have been removed, people are now out and proud - but there are not more homosexuals as a result.

Part of this conference was a focus on reparative therapy, which is largely discredited in the psychological community as a violation of the personhood of gay and lesbian individuals.

Reparative therapy is based on the assumption that gays are made, not born, and the practitioners, like Levy, deny that homosexuality is inborn. The research mostly says otherwise. Any success they do claim is likely due to the fact that sexuality is on a continuum - so they likely have reprogrammed individuals who were bisexual by nature - about a third of their clients. Another third can pretend to be heterosexual but then go back to same sex attraction while another third cannot be reached at all.

Reparative treatments might also be successful if someone is the victim of pederasty and assumed they were gay because of it - in which case some type of therapy is justified - but that is not the same thing as changing an innate trait - since most gays and lesbians were never abused.

One final bit of pseudoscience is the assertion that younger sons from large families with more brothers are more likely to be gay. I suspect that what is happening instead is that in any larger group of males you are more likely to find a few gay ones and that older sons are much more likely to hide their sexuality from their fathers if they are gay. This comes more under the heading of being more likely to hide from authority than homosexuality being more prevalent.

I think the basis for wanting to repair gays is the mistaken belief that it is necessary for their salvation to do so, so that they can avoid sin - and that the real problem is that the Church cannot face the fact that homosexual activity by people who were born gay cannot be sinful - so that the appropriate thing is to simply recognize this and teach that they should keep their sexuality within the bounds of marriage instead. Most Catholics already feel that way - which is really what frightens the hierarchy.

The Rule Obama Forgot: “It’s the economy, stupid.” - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-06T09:55:00.000-04:00

The Rule Obama Forgot: “It’s the economy, stupid.” - TheFiscalTimes.com

The unemployment problem is secondary to the problem of mortgage debt. You could have thrown three times the stimulus at the economy - however with four million families owing twice what their homes are worth, the economy will stay flat until the housing bubble reinflates (which is unlikely, bad public policy and seems to be what Wall Street is hoping for) or until mortgages are either abandonned or modified. The mortgage modification plan the White House worked out had great potential - the problem was it was not mandatory and with the lack of cramdown authority on primary residences, banks have no incentive to deal (especially if they believe the bubble will reinflate - which is kind of pathetic). At the very least, the Federal Reserve, Freddie and Fannie should have been made to modify the mortgages on which they hold the paper. Until bankruptcy reform is repealed (unlikely unless done in the lame duck session) or TARP authority is used to have government held mortgages modified, the crisis will continue and McConnell may get his wish on making Obama a one term president.

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Why its worse than we think

2010-11-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Why its worse than we think.

Call to class war.

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Under the Radar - No meeting of Fiscal Commission until Nov 30

2010-11-03T20:02:00.001-04:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Under the Radar - No meeting of Fiscal Commission until Nov 30

The most underreported story of the week.

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Three Econo-masters Have a Jobs Creation Game Plan - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-03T20:02:00.000-04:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Three Econo-masters Have a Jobs Creation Game Plan - TheFiscalTimes.com

If these are the experts, we are in trouble

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Giving Obama a Break - TheFiscalTimes.com

2010-11-03T20:01:00.000-04:00

The Iowa Center for Fiscal Equity: Giving Obama a Break - TheFiscalTimes.com

Obama is toying with his food. He is going to eat the Tea Party for lunch.