Moral Side

Catholic Bishops Fight Back Against Health Care Mandates

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a “call to action to defend religious liberty” and is urging lay individuals to strive to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights.

In a news release on Thursday (April 12, 2012), the USCCB stated that it is calling upon dioceses to pursue a “religious liberty fortnight” from June 21^st through July 4^th, a special period of prayer for religious liberty. The bishops have published a document entitled, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” in which they assert:

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other.

We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today…for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad.

The document provides some “concrete examples” of how religious liberty is under attack. Among them are:

• The HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs
• State immigration laws which forbid the Church to provide “Christian charity and pastoral care” to undocumented immigrants.
• A 2009 bill put forward by the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut Legislature that would have forced Catholic parishes to be restructured according to a “congregational model.”
• The University of California Hastings College of Law’s denial of student organization status to the Christian Legal Society.
• The termination of Catholic foster care and adoption services in some cities because the charities refused to place children with same-sex or unmarried couples.

In their document, the bishops quote recently retired Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, who said, in response to the HHS mandate: “I cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience than this ruling today. This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic community can muster.”

To that end, the bishops urge that the fourteen days- or fortnight- from June 21^st- the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More- to July 4^th, Independence Day, be declared a “fortnight for freedom.”

by Dr. Susan Berry (article)

"The Moral Side of the News" Topics for Sunday, January 22, 2012 - Italian Cruise Ship, Indiana Legislature, and Paula Deen

Here are the topics for the program to air on Sunday, January 22, 2012.  You may comment on any topic on this blog.

The Moral Side of the News airs on WHAS-TV on Sunday mornings at 5:30am and WHAS 840AM radia on Sunday evenings at 9:30pm.  It may also be seen or heard in Louisville on the FAITH CHANNEL on Sundays at noon, and on various Louisville radio stations at 7am or 7:30am Sundays.

TOPIC 1:

Cruise Captain Says He 'Tripped' Into Lifeboat, Couldn't Get Out

The captain of the Italian cruise ship gave a slapstick explanation of how he ended up safely in a lifeboat instead of going down with his ship, saying he tripped and fell into the boat as it was being lowered into the sea, Italian media reported today.  "I had no intention of escaping," Francesco Schettino, 52, said during his first court hearing Tuesday, according to Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.  "I was helping some passengers put the life boat to sea. At a certain point the mechanism for lowering it, blocked. We had to force it. Suddenly the system unblocked itself and I tripped and I found myself inside the life boat with a number of passengers."  Once in the lifeboat that was lowered into the sea, Schettino insisted to the court that it was "impossible to go back onboard."

The captain also reportedly admitted to the court that he lied at one point when he assured officials that he had dropped anchor shortly after the Costa Concordia slammed into a rock to stabilize the luxury liner.  However a video by the Guardia di Finanza who arrived onsite 10 minutes after the disaster clearly shows that the anchor had not been lowered. Schettino admitted Tuesday that he lied about the anchor, the newspaper reported.

The luxury cruise ship was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew when it struck rocks Friday evening near Giglio off the coast of Tuscany, during a close pass to shore. At least 11 people were killed in the aftermath when the ship keeled over. Nearly two dozen people are still missing, including an American couple from Minnesota.

Schettino reportedly admitted that he made mistakes that led to the crash and afterwards, but said the ship's course, including the now-controversial close pass, had been set from the beginning. The cruise line previously said Schettino had made an unauthorized deviation from the programmed route.  Schettino, who is currently under house arrest, is under investigation for potentially causing the wreck by steering into the rocks and then abandoning the panicked passengers for a lifeboat as the ship plunged over on its side. In recorded radio transmissions released Tuesday, Schettino is heard telling Italian Port Authority officials he and other officers abandoned ship.  "And with 100 people still on board, you abandon ship? [expletive]," the Port Authority officer says in response.

Schettino appears to correct himself, saying, "I didn't abandon any ship... because the ship turned on its side quickly and we were catapulted into the water."  The recording goes on to show the Port Authority official repeatedly berating Schettino for not going back to the ship to coordinate rescue efforts, and at one point ordering Schettino to "get back on board for [expletive]'s sake!" TRANSCRIPT: 'Get Back on Board for [Expletive] Sake!'

CONTINUE READING: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-captain-claimed-tripped-lifeboat-report/story?id=15386279

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this tragedy and the captain’s explanation for abandoning his ship?

TOPIC 2:

Dems Face $1K-A-Day Fines Over No Show

INDIANAPOLIS -- House Republicans voted Wednesday to start imposing $1,000 fines against Democratic legislators who have resumed their boycott of a right-to-work bill.  Democrats refused to enter the chamber Wednesday to allow a quorum, instead holding an open caucus inside the Statehouse rotunda, surrounded by hundreds of union supporters.  "They have tried to stop you from being in this building. You wouldn't allow it to happen," Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer told the cheering crowd.

Bauer and Republican Speaker Brian Bosma squabbled Tuesday over what Bauer called Bosma's "manipulation" of an effort to put right-to-work legislation on the ballot.  The two leaders fought over who broke a truce negotiated designed to keep Democrats in the House chamber long enough for a vote on the Republican plan to ban union contracts with mandatory representation fees.  The legislation has brought hundreds of labor protesters to the Statehouse almost daily and spurred Democrats to frequently block action by denying Republicans the number of lawmakers needed to conduct any business.

Lawmakers had planned Tuesday to vote on whether to put the right-to-work bill to referendum before voters this fall. But Bauer said he found out late Monday that state lawyers had raised questions about the constitutionality of such a measure. He called it a trick from Bosma designed to give Republicans cover to vote against the referendum proposal.  "We will not let the Republicans press a crown of thorns upon the brows of the working families of Indiana," said Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Austin.

Among Wednesday's crowd were Teamsters members were wearing shirts with an XLVI and a slash, a clear reference to the Super Bowl, many shouting "Occupy the Super Bowl."  Teamsters Local 135 Director Jeff Combs said the union is discussing plans to protest right-to-work at the game so they can bring their cause to a national audience.  "We'll roll 100 trucks in here, 200 if we need to and put in thousands of people if we have to" to surround the stadium, Combs said.  A representative with the Super Bowl Host Committee told RTV6 that public safety officials will be ready to deal with any disruptions, but said they hope the protesters will realize what the game means to Indiana.

WATCH STORY: http://www.theindychannel.com/politics/30239912/detail.html

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this and the plans to take the protest to the Super Bowl?

 

TOPIC 3:

Anthony Bourdain Slams Paula Deen for Diabetes-Drug Partnership

Anthony Bourdain, a New York-based chef and host of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations," took to Twitter Tuesday night to resume his criticism of chef Paula Deen by tweeting, "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later."  The comment is presumably another slam against the down-home chef's decision to become the face of diabetes drug-maker Novo Nordisk.

Deen, host of the Food Network's "Paula's Best Dishes," put rumors to bed Tuesday by confirming on NBC's "Today Show" that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three years ago, even though she continued to tout her buttery, artery-clogging Southern cuisine. She also announced the launch of her new campaign, "Diabetes in a New Light," which is in partnership with diabetes drug-maker Novo Nordisk.  Deen, 64, reportedly treats her diabetes with the company's Victoza, a daily injectable drug that is meant to maintain blood-sugar levels. She will appear in an advertisement for the drug later this month, USA Today reported.

But this wasn't Bourdain's first time criticizing the jovial cooking host. He told TV Guide last year that Deen was the "worst, most dangerous person in America" because of her high-fat cooking. Upon hearing of Deen's diabetes diagnosis, Bourdain had even more criticism to sling.  "When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 Diabetes. ... It's in bad taste if nothing else," he told Eater Monday.

Deen defended her decision to keep quiet in order to become educated on the condition before taking it public.  "I made the choice at the time to keep it close to me, to keep it close to my chest," she told USA Today. "I felt like I had nothing to offer anybody other than the announcement. I wasn't armed with enough knowledge. I knew when it was time, it would be in God's time."

CONTINUE READING: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/anthony-bourdain-slams-paula-deen/story?id=15386289

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Paula Deen should have reported her diagnosis sooner?

The New Health Insurance Law Begins to Unravel - Major Program Financially Unsustainable

The Obama administration on October 14, 2011 pulled the plug on a major program in the president's signature health overhaul law – a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency.  The program became the first casualty in the political and policy wars over the health care law. It had been expected to launch in 2013.

"This is a victory for the American taxpayer and future generations," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spearheading opposition in the Senate. "The administration is finally admitting (the long-term care plan) is unsustainable and cannot be implemented."

Proponents, including many groups that fought to pass the health care law, have vowed a vigorous effort to rescue the program, insisting that Congress gave the administration broad authority to make changes.  Known as CLASS, the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program was a long-standing priority of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Although sponsored by the government, CLASS was supposed to function as a self-sustaining voluntary insurance plan, open to working adults regardless of age or health. Workers would pay an affordable monthly premium during their careers and could collect a modest daily cash benefit of at least $50 (a minimum of $1,500) if they became disabled later in life. The money could go for services at home or to help with nursing home bills.

A central design flaw dogged CLASS. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout.

After months insisting that could be fixed, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finally acknowledged she doesn't see how.  "Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time," Sebelius said in a letter to congressional leaders. 

The law required the administration to certify that CLASS would remain financially solvent for 75 years before it could be put into place.  Officials said they discovered they could not make CLASS both affordable and financially solvent while keeping it a voluntary program open to virtually all workers, as the law also required.

Monthly premiums would have ranged from $235 to $391, even as high as $3,000 under some scenarios, the administration said. At those prices, healthy people were unlikely to sign up. Suggested changes aimed at discouraging enrollment by people in poor health could have opened the program to court challenges, officials said.

"If healthy purchasers are not attracted, ...then premiums will increase, which will make it even more unattractive to purchasers who could also obtain policies in the private market," Kathy Greenlee, the lead official on CLASS, said in a memo to Sebelius. That "would cause the program to quickly collapse."

That's the same conclusion a top government expert reached in 2009. Nearly a year before the health care law passed, Richard Foster, head of long-range economic forecasts for Medicare warned administration and congressional officials that CLASS would be unworkable. His warnings were disregarded, as Obama declared his support for adding the long-term care plan to his health care bill.

The demise of CLASS immediately touched off speculation about its impact on the federal budget. Although no premiums are likely to be collected, the program still counts as reducing the federal deficit by about $80 billion over the next 10 years. That's because of a rule that would have required workers to pay in for at least five years before they could collect any benefits.  "The CLASS Act was a budget gimmick that might enhance the numbers on a Washington bureaucrat's spreadsheet but was destined to fail in the real world," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Administration officials said Obama's next budget would reflect the decision not to go forward. Even without CLASS premiums, they said the health care law will still reduce the deficit by more than $120 billion over 10 years.

"We're disappointed that (Sebelius) has prematurely stated she does not see a path forward," AARP, [the liberal] seniors lobby, said in a statement.

Source

Illinois Excludes Roman Catholic Agency from Providing Adoption Services and Foster Care over Same-Sex Unions

Illinois ended its contracts with Catholic Charities this summer after passing a law recognizing same-sex civil unions. The state had informed the organization, an arm of the Roman Catholic Church, that its policy of limiting foster and adoptive parents to heterosexual married couples violates the new civil unions law. Three major Illinois dioceses sued the state, arguing that religious adoption agencies have specific protection under the civil unions law, which is titled "The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act." On August 18, a county judge in Illinois rejected the lawsuit of Catholic Charities.

In recent years Catholic Charities has handled twenty percent of the state's foster care and adoption caseload. Now Catholic Charities will need to find other organizations to provide for the 2,000 foster children in its care.

The Moral Side of the News - Topics for the Program Airing October 2, 2011

TOPIC 1:  Father faces charges for allegedly sending his child to Oldham County school

Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A Louisville father pleads not guilty to theft by deception charges after being accused of sending his son to Oldham County School illegally. Charles Lauron maintains his innocence and says he did nothing wrong.

“The facts as they allege are not clear. We think they are subject to some interpretation and we certainly don’t think he had any intent to deceive,” said Dale Warren, Lauron’s attorney.

Oldham County school officials say that Lauron used a friend’s address in Oldham County to register his son in their schools. Lauron’s son has been attending Oldham County schools since 2003.  The address used is Donna Clagget’s. She denies knowing anything about Lauron using her address. She is facing charges as well.  Lauron’s son now goes to school in Jefferson County.

“Chris has always gone to school in Oldham County and we think he has a right to continue to do that. (His) mom has always had a residency in Oldham County,” said Warren.

An attorney for Oldham County Schools says there are nine investigations underway of people going to school in Oldham County illegally. So far, some families have already withdrawn their students from the district that were going there illegally. District leaders say Lauron didn’t do that so they had to take legal action.  Lauron will be back in court on November 2nd for a pre-trial hearing.

TOPIC 2: Postal service employees rally country wide in support of "Save the Post Office Day"

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Downtown Louisville was packed this evening. The national rallies were held by supporters and employees of the U.S. Postal Service.  They hope to save it from drastic cuts and shutdowns.  They rallied all across the nation at every congressional district to save local post offices.  Dozens came out to Downtown Louisville by the Federal Building at 6th and Chestnut Street.  Their message was to tell Congress to make a change.

They want support of a bill called H.R. 1351.  Lawmakers want to make massive budget cuts that could lay off 120,000 postal workers, stop Saturday mail delivery and close thousands of post offices.  That would mean about 1,000 workers would be unemployed in Louisville.

"If we want them to act like an independent business we need to let them compete and really that's what part of this controversy is all about," Congressman John Yarmuth said. 

"This would give that money back that would enable the postal service to be in the plus side instead of minus for a change. To keep six day delivery which is vital. Nobody in this time and economy can afford to live without a job," said Missy Harris with the National Letter Carriers Association.

So far, 215 out of 320 in the House of Representatives support H.R. 1351 and want changes in favor of the U.S. Postal Service right away. 

The Top Ten Events of 2010

What is your list of the top ten events of 2010.  Here is my top ten list.  Many "events" in my list are multiple events - but events that are related.

This is not a list of the top ten most covered news stories of 2010.  I invite your comments.

1. The Earthquakes in Haiti (January), Chile (February), and Indonesia (October) -  The destructive power of nature was shown in these massive earthquakes and the aftermath of these disasters.  The earthquake in Haiti caused the greatest suffering.  Once again Americans responded with concern and generosity.  The funds raised by celebrities, however, have often times not reached those in need.  These tragedies have faded from the mainstream view.  Christians were there before, during, and after the quake in Haiti.  How true we find the words of Paul in Romans 8.20-23 to be:  "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to son-ship, the redemption of our bodies."
2. The Collapsing Western European Socialist Economy as exemplified most drastically in the bailout of Greece (April) and Ireland (November) - Margaret Thatcher was correct:  "Eventually you run out of other people's money."  The economic collapse will have far-reaching effects in all of Europe and the different countries attempt to prop up each other and save themselves.  No longer can the governments provide everything to their citizens.
3. The Local, State, and National Elections in the United States (November) - This mid-term correction at the national level provides hope for a return to fiscal responsibility and reaches far down into state legislatures and governorships, as well as local governing bodies.  Fueled by the "Taxed Enough Already" people and groups, this historic change is a reaction to the economic and political trends.  It gives energy to the attempt to repeal the national health care legislation and has already had an impact on federal income taxes.
4. The Arizona Immigration Law(SB 1070 signed into law in April) - This law focused the frustration of the American people on illegal immigration and the apathy of the federal government.  The Arizona Law and the challenge to it by the federal government sets up a constitutional conflict that will be resolved in 2011.
5. The Enactment of Health Care Legislation(March) - This new legislation will have far reaching consequences -intended and unintended, foreseen and unforeseen.  The legislation does nothing to improve medical care, but it will have serious impacts on the economy, the medical profession, and the health of individuals.  Challenges to the legislation will continue into 2011 in the judicial and political areas.
6. The Wiki-Leaks Information Dump (July and November) - The leaks and the lethargic response of the US government are alarming.  Publicly the US government has not been damaged, but embarrassed.  The leaks make diplomacy and the war more difficult.
7. The Aggression of North Korea as exemplified in the attack of the South Korean Navy ship (March) and the artillery shelling of the South Korean island (November) - North Korea has always been an unstable rogue nation.  The upcoming change in leadership and North Korea's development of a deliverable nuclear weapon will cause greater instability in Asia.
8. The British Petroleum Oil Spill (April) - This spill certainly had immediate economic and natural consequences.  The negative results of the spill were exacerbated by the slow immediate response of the Obama Administration and the long term response of the administration that has blocked much of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
9. The Floods from the Monsoon in Pakistan (July) - This devastating natural disaster caused great suffering to that struggling nation.  The devastation reminds one of the Haitian earthquake.  Again I am reminded of Romans 8.20-23.
10. The Eruption of the Volcano in Iceland (Aptil) - Though this event had no great loss of life, the eruption and the spread of volcanic ash through the atmosphere brought air travel in Europe to a standstill for about two weeks.  Once again saw the power of Creation over human endeavors, and once again I was reminded of Romans 8.20-23.

The "Feel Good" story of 2010 was the rescue of the mine workers in Chile.  This event was over-covered by the news media.  It's lasting effect will be the high number of sermon illustrations that grew from it.

The Moral Side of the News (March 28, 2010) - Health Care Insurance

The panel of clergy discussed the Health Care Insurance bill that passed the House of Representatives on Sunday, March 21, with a vote of 219-212.  With all of the mourning of a lack of bipartisan consensus, it should be noted that the "Nay" vote was bi-partisan.

There are many concerns I have about what is now the law of the land.  It improves the health of no person.  It does not improve health care, nor does it improve access to health care.  It does not lower the cost of health care.  What the new law produces is unfunded state and individual mandates.  Health insurance companies will now become "utlilities."  Both state and federal taxes shall increase.  Individual will be required to purchase a product.  Employers will find the cost of labor will increase - and thereby, lower employment.

The insolvency of Medicare is not fixed.  Medicare "savings" that were counted to help pay for the bill are not put back into Medicare, but used to create a new entitlement.

Of course, everyone knows by now that the cost of what is called the "Doc Fix" - adjustments made to payments to physicians - was not included in the cost analysis of the bill.  It it had been, the cost would have increased dramatically.

 

For the first decade, we shall be taxed ten years, but the "benefits" will only be for six years.  What happens in the second decade and beyond?  My guess is even higher taxes and fewer benefits.

The political conversation has become poisoned.  The President who ran on unity and bipartisanship has created a partisan majority in Congress that is at best oblivious and at worst contemptuous of the voice of the majority.

On thing more troubles me; and that is the moral shift in much of our nation.  I sense that we are losing our moral strength.  Many are discarding their spines and become sponges.  A spine can carry much more than its own weight.  A sponge has no spine, but can absorb much more than its own weight.

How can I say this?  Some statistics I have recently reviewed show that about 41% (2006 numbers) of the households in the United States pay no federal income tax.  That number is growing by the addition of about 1% per year.  This year we shall probably be at or above 45%.  We are coming close to the time where half of the households in America carry the other half.

Who is it that carries the other half on their backs?  75% of all federal income taxes are paid by households headed by married couples.

We are losing the self-reliant and independent spirit that has made America exceptional.  We are descendents of people who survived the journey to this country in any number of ways.  We are squandering our strength and our heritage. 

Many are satisfied to ask not what they can do for their country, but to ask what their country can do for them.  Many are satisfied to get more than they give.  Many are satisfied to have others take care of them.  Many seek rights and ignore responsibilities.

This Health Care Insurance law is a step in a direction that will destroy American exceptionalism.  It will cause us to wither as a nation.

Do They Think We Are Dopes? Well, I Guess They Do!

Senator Jim Bunning - Unemployment Benefits and "Pay as You Go"

Much has been said and will continue to be said about the stand Senator Jim Bunning (Republican of Kentucky) took in regard to the $10,000,000,000 extension of unemployment benefits and the "pay as you go legislation."

Let me say initially that during Senator Bunning's challenge of the extension of benefits he showed some behavior that was inappropriate for his office and himself.  We all get "testy" and abrasive on occasion - especially when we stand alone and our opinions; when we are misunderstood; and when our motives and statements are mischaracterized.  I say this not to excuse or mitigate Senator Bunning's behavior, but to suggest an understanding of it.

Having said that, let us examine some of the mischaracterizations of Senator Bunning's stand.  The Senator was slowing down passage of a bill in the Senate that would extend unemployment benefits.  His challenge was that he wanted to see how the federal government would pay for the extension.  He has sense reached a compromise that will require a vote by each member of the Senate on the legislation.

Senator Bunning has been mischaracterized in the following manner:

1. He was accused by democrats and the downstream media of using a filibuster.  That is not factually correct.  In the US Senate a filibuster occurs only when a member continues to hold the floor (remember Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington") or there are not sixty votes in favor of cloture (ending debate).  Senator Bunning was simply objecting to passing the bill by what is called unanimous consent - passing it without a record of each members vote.
2. He was accused by democrats and the downstream media of being against unemployment benefits.  That also is not the case.  The legislation that was being considered was to EXTEND unemployment benefits for those persons for whom unemployment benefits had reached their limit. 

What are the facts?  

Unemployment insurance is a partnership between state and local governments.  The current basic federal program covers persons for 26 weeks, though coverage may be extended 13 more weeks in areas that are hard hit by unemployment.  Many states in the past have extended unemployment benefits on their own beyond one year.  Recently, however, many states have cut back their extensions of the federal minimum.

Nationally, about 400,000 persons would reach the limit in March.  About 4,800 of these persons are in Kentucky.

"Pay-as-You-Go" legislation was encouraged by President Obama during the Presidential campaign and in June 2009 during his first year as President.  His reasoning was to take politics out of budget considerations and not to increase the budget deficit.  He celebrated its passage about a month ago. 

The White House released this statement July 22, 2009 on behalf of the President when the House of Representatives passed the PAY-GO legislation: 

With this vote, the House of Representatives demonstrated strong support for fiscal discipline. I appreciate the House’s quick response to my call for pay-as-you-go (PAY-GO) legislation, a central budget-reform priority.

Let me be clear: all new mandatory initiatives and all new tax cuts must be paid for. It is time to stop the practice of passing today’s costs onto future generations. PAY-GO was a driving principle behind the move from deficit to surplus in the 1990s, and must be so again today.

For several years, the federal government was stalled in a pattern of fiscal irresponsibility. No more. We are making tough decisions on funding priorities. We are tackling the biggest threats to our long-term fiscal stability. And we are restoring greater discipline to how we spend taxpayers’ dollars.

I thank Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer, Chairman Spratt and Chairman Miller, Representatives Hill, Cooper, Boyd, and Welch, the Blue Dog coalition, and all of the 167 cosponsors of the PAY-GO legislation. We will continue to work together to strengthen fiscal discipline. I urge the Senate to approve PAY-GO so I can sign this bill into law this year.

The Senate (in no hurry) passed PAY-GO in February 2010.

Senator Bunning was simply asking the question of how the $10,000,000,000 cost of the unemployment extension would be covered in light of PAY-GO.

Several economists have suggested that extending unemployment benefits actually encourages unemployment.  This conclusion that has been supported by statistics (unemployment grows when benefits grow) is that persons wait to seek employment when their benefits come to and end.

Certainly we see this in other government programs.  Tax credits and direct subsidies are provided by the government for behaviors that the government wants to encourage and increase.  Fees and taxes are increased on behaviors that the government wants to discourage.

Of course, our society should help persons in any period who through no fault of their own need the safety net of unemployment benefits.  Our society should seek to encourage employment, not unemployment.

Senator Bunning took only the first step and asked "How do we pay for this extension of benefits?"  He did not take the next step and ask "Are we helping people by extending benefits?'

Senator Bunning has forced every Senator to go on record.  In doing so he has exposed the demagogic politics of the liberals in the Senate who voice fiscal responsibility, but act in an opposite manner.

President Obama Defends Senate Health Care Bill, Says It Will Pass

President Obama pushed back against critics, including the former head of the Democratic Party, who have said that the health care bill in the Senate is fatally flawed and should be scrapped altogether.  In an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson, the president said he laid out for Congress specific things he wanted to see in the health care legislation - including providing insurance for millions of uninsured and not driving up the deficit -- and that the current bill still has those benefits.  “Now, if you can tell me that those things are not worth it, then you and I have a very different opinion about what the task is here,” he said.

But Dr. Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chairman and a medical doctor, charged this week that the Senate bill has been so watered down that it is no longer worth supporting.  There are some good elements in the current health care bill, Dean said Wednesday on Good Morning America, but “at this point, the bill does more harm than good.”

Nevertheless, President Obama expressed confidence that the legislation will ultimately pass, but he indicated that it may not provide immediate results and it may be several years before the American people see real progress in health care.  “If I can say at the end of my first term that, you know what, we are poised to deliver on the promise of health care after the legislation has passed, I think that'll be important,” he said.  The president stressed that failure to act on health care would be dire. If Congress does not pass legislation that will bring down the spiraling costs of health care, the federal government will go bankrupt, President Obama told Gibson.

“If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee: ... Your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you,” he said. “Potentially, they're going to drop your coverage, because they just can't afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year.”

QUESTION:  Do you think the health care bill in the Senate is flawed or is it still worth supporting?

COMMENT:     The health insurance bill in the Senate is fiscally, politically, and morally flawed and never was worth supporting.

Talk about scare tactics!  The President has now warned that seriously dire consequences will occur unless the Senate bill is passed!  He did not give the same warning with the House bill.  I wonder why?  Maybe he is becoming desperate to pass anything so that he may declare a political victory.  In the meantime those who have been his strongest constituents - the left of the Democratic Party - are abandoning him

Let us not confuse our terminology.  The bill passed by the House and the bill under consideration by the Senate do not address health care.  They are health insurance or health payment bills.  They do nothing to improve health care.

It has been suggested by the President and others that doing “something” (and often “anything”) rather than nothing, is a moral imperative.  Well, that is stepping onto my turf, so let me address that issue.

So often I have been told as a conservative Christian that I should not seek to enact my moral views into laws.  It appears that such an effort is fine, however, for liberals!

Where is the foundation for this moral imperative that government provide health insurance for all persons, or that government require all persons to purchase a particular product (in this case health insurance) so that all persons may have that product?  Where is the Biblical mandate that government should take care of my every need and remove from me all responsibilities?

If it is a moral imperative that the United States government should provide health insurance, what is so moral about limiting this assistance to only US citizens?  By extension, if it is morally imperative for Americans to have health insurance, then it is for all humanity as well.  Our morality should not stop at the border!

I am not a literalist.  I do not demand from the Bible that there be a specific commandment:  “Thou shalt provide health insurance.”  I do want to know the Biblical basis for the assertion of a moral imperative.

The Bible certainly give witness to the demand that persons in the community of faith - brothers and sisters in Christ, and the people of God called Israel - care for one another with love that is sacrificial.  We are to give special attention to the least among us.

We should demand to be held to this high standard of love within our congregations.  We should stop turning over to the government our moral imperatives.