Some Catholic Organizations Seem Overzealous For Obamacare -- In Spite Of Abortion Mandates

There are some conflicting signals being sent out by a few major Catholic organizations regarding President Obama's health care bill. It would seem that Catholic Charities, The Society of St. Vincent De Paul, and the Catholic Health Association have been very gung-ho for the bill in spite of the lack of abortion exclusion or lack of support of a health care workers' freedom of conscience.

The three organizations have teamed up to create videos demanding health care reform now and refer to those of us who want smaller, cheaper reforms as those who are against all reform.

Read the full story in LifeSiteNews with update by clicking HERE.

The life issue is not a small one in the Catholic faith, in fact it is quite a major issue. And while health care for all seems to support this notion, it is my humble opinion that subtracting protection for preborns and eliminating conscience clauses for those who do not wish to stain their hands with the blood of late term abortions is a total sell-out of the Catholic faith. If you are willing to do this, then please do us all a favor and join another church. You are Catholic in name only. Read your Catechism: 2270-2275!

To express concern:

Catholic Charities USA
66 Canal Center Plaza
Suite 600
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone: (703) 549-1390
Fax: (703) 549-1656
info@catholiccharitiesusa.org

Sister Carol Keehan, President and CEO
The Catholic Health Association
1875 Eye Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20006-5440
phone: (202) 296-3993
ckeehan@chausa.org

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
58 Progress Parkway
St. Louis, Missouri 63043-3706
phone: 314-576-3993
fax: 576-6755
usacouncil@svdpusa.org

Obama: The Most Fiscally Irresponsible President In History

Visuals can be very effective ways of communicating a point. President Reagan knew it when he showed us a dollar bill and asked us to picture them stacked all the way to the moon ---that was our debt at the time.

Now Obama is taking this country for a ride at 174mph and likely to run us (and the rest of the world) off a cliff when the world economy collapses under the weight of enormous debt to gnp. Check out this video above, courtesy of 10000Pennies. Read my past rant HERE.

(h/t for video: Freeman Hunt)

Are People Finally Starting To Take Notice???

And just think...that figure is expected to be added to the national debt every year under this administration. And who says Obama isn't trying to cripple this country?


(h/t: Brutally Honest)

Mmmmm...Crabs!

Experts Agree Giant, Razor-Clawed Bioengineered Crabs Pose No Threat

I love the Onion...most of the time.

(hat tip: Jimmy Akin)

STOP THE ABORTION INDUSTRY POWER-GRAB

For those of you who don't already know, Obama's proposed economy-crippling-health-care-bonanza has a recent addition to it in which abortion coverage will be mandatory. The implications are far reaching and are not limited to the following:

(From LifeSiteNews) --

• Impose one of the cornerstones of the Freedom Of Choice Act by stealth.

• Force taxpayers to fund a huge abortion industry bailout---something the majority of Americans oppose and certainly cannot afford in these tough economic times.

• Mandate that virtually every American be forced into a health plan that includes abortion coverage.

• Require honorable medical providers to violate their consciences and perform abortions---or risk losing their jobs.

(end of excerpt)

Pro-lifers everywhere should be getting involved to stop this....AND THEY CAN! They can click HERE to register (for free!!!) for Thursday's urgent nationwide webcast which features several well known speakers, from former presidential candidate and Governor Mike Huckabee to my own Congressman Joe Pitts (seen above in video).

This upcoming vote is considered to be the most important vote on the abortion issue since the Judicial Fiat of Roe vs. Wade. Get involved!

It was just the other day that it was discovered that preborn babies have memories! Well, they have souls, too!!!

Health Rations And You...A Public Service Announcement

Funny!

(h/t: No Sheeples Here)

One Small Step For Babies... One Giant Leap For Life Causes

CatholicVote.org will be airing this new ad on TV in Houston markets for the next several weeks. How fitting since tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of the first manned rocket launched to the moon. Read more details HERE at Jill Stanek's blog, as well as for the letter from astronaut Dr. Joseph Kerwin.

This is the third Imagine ad released by CatholicVote.org that ends with the tag line "Life, imagine the potential."

Here are the other two ads:

Pope's Latest Encyclical Rooted In Moral Conservatism

For whatever reason a person decides to join the Catholic Church, one should not join because the political views of the Church aligns with ones own. It rarely happens completely. For the Catholic Church has been known to out-conservative the conservatives while simultaneously out-liberaling the liberals for many years. The latest encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), does just that, but not without referencing Catholic doctrine from hundreds of years of carefully thought out philosophy, ie., The Catechism.

Democrats, of course, have taken it upon themselves to crow what they consider to be an endorsement of their irresponsible plans to socialize our economy and create a total welfare state. But with every seeming endorsement comes the exception. For instance, in Chapter 5, section(?) 57, of the encylical, The Pope warns of the dangers of socialization by invoking the principle of subsidiarity, (from Catechism, paragraph #1883) "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions..." This, of course, gives one hope that the Pope sees liberty and freedom as means of achieving economic prosperity and social justice for all, rather than a formation of a total welfare state (something the Church fought against for most of the last century, ie., Communism).

For a letter, it is a rather lengthy read. But if you find the time you should read it in full. Mainly it would seem that Pope Benedict is trying to get us to look beyond our usual party affiliations and issue alliances in dealing with today's problems.

In an article in the New York Times, Ross Douthat points out the links the Pope makes between seemingly unlikely topics. Here's a snippet:

But Benedict’s encyclical is nothing if not political. “Caritas in Veritate” promotes a vision of economic solidarity rooted in moral conservatism. It links the dignity of labor to the sanctity of marriage. It praises the redistribution of wealth while emphasizing the importance of decentralized governance. It connects the despoiling of the environment to the mass destruction of human embryos.

In other words, why should someone who is green on the environment necessarily be pro-death on abortion? etc...

Read the rest of his column by clicking HERE. And a big HAT TIP to Matt Kaufman who is now blogging for Focus On The Family in addition to his usual duties, for directing our attention to Douthat's column.

For a very in-depth look at the encyclical try clicking HERE for Roma Locuta Est.

See also THIS for clarification!

NYC Sidewalk Swallows Texting Teenager

Here are the facts thus far... New York City manhole cover missing after being removed by city workers flushing an open sewer. The workers took off the cover and THEN went to the truck to get orange warning cones. Girl walks down sidewalk while texting with Blackberry. Girl falls in hole and miraculously sustains minor injuries. Parents of girl considering lawsuit.

Is there any question who is at fault here? Just because the girl is texting, an activity which has become the latest bugaboo in our society, some would place the blame on her. She could have been doing any number of things like daydreaming, talking with a friend walking beside her, or admiring the leaves on the trees above, and still fall into a hole in the sidewalk that should not have been left unattended or left without orange warning cones. This is not the same as walking out in front of traffic while being zoned out in texting mode, nor is it like crashing a vehicle while texting and driving. The city workers have a responsibility not to leave things in a condition that could harm the public. Leaving the open hole unattended could have been easily avoided. What if a small child had wandered out to the sidewalk?

I am sure you have your own opinions on this, and you are welcome to click on comments below and share them... I will apologize now for my headline.

(hat tip to Chicago Ray who is taking the other side in a rare disagreement)

My Two Cents For Freeman Hunt

I found a wonderfully written piece on a blog by Freeman Hunt, whom you might recognize from the I am Sarah Palin video that circulated during the presidential campaign last year, called He Is Not Coming. It was so thought-provoking that I wanted to leave a long comment, but for some reason that particular post of hers isn't allowing them. So I shall do it here...

Her post laments the sad state of our educational system and how it has resulted in a crippling lack of knowledge and wisdom, consequently denying our society of a Jefferson, Washington, Adams, or Lincoln to save us from statism (Obama-ism). Before reading the rest of this post, you really should read hers. It is well worth your time. Click HERE.

It is my own opinion that the state of education deteriorated when we went soft in the 1970's. All through the 50's and 60's education was taken seriously because we were in a space race with the Soviets, and we were determined to win. It was after that ended that honors programs at schools were phased out, though somewhere along the way through the 60's we lost Greek, with Latin to exit later on. But someone age 55 or older (presidential age) should have been educated at the zenith of the space race, and not simply in math and science.

So why then is he not coming? Is he (or she) out there but simply not interested in the job? Could it be the 24/7 news cycle or life in a fishbowl that keeps him/her from throwing a hat in the ring? Is it the combative and vicious tone that politics has taken in the past 30 years that keeps him/her away? Who wants to be Sarah Palin? Not even Sarah, herself, apparently. Lincoln once said that were it not for the honor of being President, he would not want the job. Is there any honor in it today? Or simply power? And if power is the only draw, what kind of individual does that attract? Look who we have today.

I cannot agree that relativism is the reason we have no Reagan or Thatcher stepping to the plate today, but I do believe it is why we will have none down the road. Not for a while, anyway. Not until we have to learn the hard lessons all over again in a world war or a great depression, where the hardships are long-term and faith in the state to solve our problems would hopefully collapse in favor of liberty once again. Obama will hasten this, I think.

But relativism could be the reason that if he/she did come forward, he/she would not get elected anyway by a mass of voters desiring a rock star/celebrity type to worship at the altar.

Quite Possibly America's Fastest Growing Profession

In these uncertain days of rampant unemployment amidst the overt lack of stimulus in our economy, there is a vocation that seems to be getting more and more lucrative. It requires a certain skill in its execution but little more preparation than scrawling on a sign. Sunscreen is helpful, but not required. And if you don't wish to get ants in your pants, then bring your own chair. I am talking about the fastest growing profession in most large cities, particularly at interstate off-ramps: Panhandling!

Matt Kaufman, a writer for Dr. Dobson, emailed me a link to an article in the St. Petersburg Times by Lane DeGregory that brings to mind the welfare queens President Reagan warned us about in the 1980 presidential campaign, but deals primarily with the growing numbers of panhandlers in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area and how it has become a profession. Though, as a trucker who drives all over this great nation, I can personally attest to scores of major cities where this runs rampant.

I have given in on many occasions and dropped a few bucks in the grubby hands of appreciative hobos, most of whom blessed me more profusely than any priest has so far. But after reading this article I cannot help but feel a sense of rage at those who ply this avocation who do not possess the need. One would think it takes a sense of desperation and a little bit of insanity to sit in the blazing sun, eg. Oklahoma or Florida, and collect what may turn out to be only $1 to $5 per day. But according to DeGregory, some claim to fetch as much as $800 a week, and that it all depends upon a person's sales pitch -- what you scrawl on your cardboard sign. Most do not live on the streets, but in homes or even motels. You have to read it to believe it...


Read the whole story by clicking HERE.