Category: Politics

I Have to Think of These Things Now

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Two of my kids have “well-child visits” scheduled with their doctor this afternoon. Middle Sister’s visit will include the doctor’s signing of athletic participation forms for the spring track season. Since she has already received medical forms for high-school sports, I called the school nurse to ask if the doctor could fill those out today as well.

My sister said that the sports physical for next year has to be after July 1, but our school nurse said that today’s physical will take her right through the end of next school year (that’s right, including spring sports in 2011!)

That’s great news as far as I’m concerned, not only because I save the fee our doctor charges for filling out these forms outside of an appointment, but because, well, I’m just not certain that at this time next year, health care will be as accessible as it is today.

Middle Sister glanced at the newspaper headlines today and asked me what the health-care reform bill meant. I explained a little bit about what rationed care means. I told her that if someone got sick, the decision about whether that person should receive certain treatments, medications, or surgeries would become less and less the decision of that person’s doctor and more and more the decision of the health-care system (ultimately, the U.S. government.) I gave the example of a woman we know who recently passed away after her third bout of cancer in ten years–all after the age of 75. Would she have received chemo that second and third time around?

She thought about that for a minute and decided that it’s in her best interests to stay healthy.

I have friends in Canada who can’t call their primary-care doctor or child’s pediatrician and get a “sick visit” on the same day. And I am grateful to live here in the U.S. where I can schedule a same-day “sick visit” if one is needed. Access to health care is not something I take for granted. And now that the government is going to be in charge of it, I’m not sure it’s even something I can count on.

Bumper sticker pictured above available at zazzle.com.

Dear Congressman Stupak,

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Looking out for the greater good never involves giving in to a provision that will lead to the death of millions of innocent unborn babies. That executive order is worthless.

Bishops Urge Catholics to Write to Congress Re: Health-Care Plan

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There’s no time to lose!

The Bishops have urged Catholics in the USA to email their Congress members this weekend.

Pat Gohn has the scoop:

When you attend Sunday Mass this weekend, you may see a bulletin insert from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops…. you can read the insert in this pdf file.

The Bishops are calling on all Americans to contact Congress to oppose health care reform that does not respect the dignity of human life, and which support abortion with tax dollars.

The bishops have made an easy-to-use one-stop fill-in-the-blank form to send your comments to Congress. Pass this link on to others!

The main page from the Bishops about healthcare is here. There is lots of good information there.

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Shaking My Head in Disbelief

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The President of the United States has won the Nobel Peace Prize, due, apparently, to his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” (emphasis mine)

All you have to do to win a Nobel Prize is make an effort? You have to do more than that to become an Eagle Scout.

Nobel-Prize nominations are due February 1, only a few short days after the U.S. Presidential Inauguration. He couldn’t possibly have done that much worthy of such an honor in that short a time span.

Why not wait until he has been in office a few years and then see if his accomplishments, rather than his efforts, merit this award?

If you want to know…

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what the Catholic Bishops have listed as their priorities in health-care reform, look no further: Denise Hunnell has spelled it all out for you in her column at the Catholic Examiner.

Particularly of interest was the mention of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed strategy for health-care reform, ideas that

“would not bankrupt our nation or increase taxes in the midst of a recession. They are achievable reforms with bipartisan consensus and public support.”

Check Denise’s blog for more on the subject.

The Last ND Roundup

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There are many links I want to follow, articles and speeches I want to read in their entirety. Here are the most important of those:

National Catholic Register Online links to Obama’s speech as well as Father Jenkins’ speech.

From Our Sunday Visitor: Obama at ND: Three Lessons

From National Catholic Register: Epiphany at Notre Dame

Archbishop Chaput’s comments on Obama at Notre Dame

In the Wall Street Journal: Obama Scored Big at Notre Dame

Yesterday on Lino Rulli’s radio show (“The Catholic Guy”) he observed that the real losers here are the Catholics.

To expand on that point a little, this is because this whole issue has served to widen the divide between Catholics. As Lincoln said (paraphrasing Matthew’s gospel), “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” We lose when we forget that the Church is not a democracy.

We lose when we fail to respect those in authority, when we believe that our agendas are more important than the larger picture.

We lose when we consider it our Church–it’s Jesus’ Church, and we are blessed to be part of it.

We lose when we expect that everyone in Church, especially those in authority, will be perfect. The Church on earth is made up of humans, and none of us is perfect. In truth, we are all hypocrites, and that’s true no matter what church we belong to. If we abandon a church because there is hypocrisy within, then we will never find the perfect replacement.

Finally, we lose when we think that this is all about us. Because it’s not. We’re here to know, love, and serve the Lord, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we truly do that, we won’t need to worry about the rest of this.

The Cap and Gown Controversy

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The American Papist shares photos of the traditional academic attire to be worn at the University of Notre Dame.

Let me tell you, there’s a lot of hoopla about the gown, which has words from a prayer to the Blessed Mother on it (Vita, Dulcedo, Spes) as well as a cross. This morning as I ran a ton of errands, most Cub-Scout-related, I had ample opportunity to listen to the hosts and listeners at the Catholic Channel as “what the President will wear when he addresses Notre Dame graduates” was discussed.

I was in the car so I couldn’t call in. (Use of cell phones in cars is a primary offense in this state.) So here’s my opinion, in case you’re interested. It’s my blog, so I get to sound off here.

Graduation speakers traditionally wear academic attire, especially when they are awarded honorary degrees. As Obama is receiving an honorary ND degree it is only appropriate that he wear the ND gown. You wear the academic garb of the institution that awarded you the most recent degree, so it would not be appropriate for him to wear the gown he received with his bachelor’s degree.

Maybe it’s a good thing that he is wearing it. Maybe bearing those images on his person will make him think, even for a second, about what he has done via all those anti-life policies he has enacted.

But if I were in charge of wardrobe for this event, I’d see to it that a green scapular was sewn inside there somewhere.

In the meantime, I believe we should pray for the intercession of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, whose feast we celebrate this week. Who better to intercede on behalf of the conversion of an anti-life president than a woman–a medical doctor–who refused any treatments that would harm the life of her unborn child? Pray also for Father Jenkins, that he may see the damage he has done to the Catholic character of the University and the scandal he has created far beyond South Bend, Indiana. And pray that the University of Notre Dame will once again be a Catholic university from the top down!

Call Your US Senators!

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The National Service Act (also known as the GIVE Act) is on the Senate calendar today. It’s known as HR 1388 and S277.

It’s not getting a lot of time in the national media spotlight. But this act would require volunteer service of our young people, while at the same time placing severe limits on the type of service that can be done and participation in religious/political activities during the service period.

Volunteering is good. I encourage my children to volunteer as they are able; Big Brother has worked with Habitat for Humanity in Philadelphia, PA and spent a week in Mississippi doing Habitat work, and he looks forward to participating in this in the future. Middle Sister has begun volunteering at church events. I am proud of my children’s work in the service of others, and do not want their volunteer work restricted to what is “politically correct.” Rather, I want them to learn to, as a line in the movie Robots says, “See a need, fill a need.”

Call your Senator and let them know that a bill that requires volunteer activity flies in the face of what volunteering is all about, and a bill that further restricts volunteer activity to exclude religious and political service restricts our freedom of religion. In short, it’s unconstitutional.

A Strange Phone Call. What country are we in, again?

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A little while ago I answered a phone call. The caller ID said “Ottawa ON.” As I have a Canadian friend who lives in Ontario and calls me occasionally, I took the call expecting to hear her voice.

Was I surprised to instead get a taped-telemarketer call informing me that President Obama was encouraging mortgage lenders to work with mortgage holders….at that point I hung up. I’m fine with my mortgage the way it is. (Property taxes are another story.)

So why is it that these mortgage lenders need to go outside the country to hire telemarketers to play taped messages to American mortgage holders? Do we have a shortage of telemarketing companies in the USA that could do such a job? Judging by the number of calls I receive despite being on the Do Not Call list, I’m guessing that this job could have been taken on by Americans, thus employing Americans and ultimately stimulating our economy. I doubt we handle such calls for Canadian banks, urged by their government.

It just bugs me–something about this just doesn’t sit right.

Stuff That Happens When They Think You’re Not Looking

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You know how kids try to sneak stuff by you when you’re not looking? Like, for example, eating a handful of chocolate chips from the pantry, or meeting some (ahem) extra friends at the mall who “just happened” to be there….

Well, the government isn’t immune to tactics such as these. The fanfare happens when it’s all done and too late to change.

Tomorrow the President will enable innocent unborn lives to be ended so that their stem cells can be used for scientific experiments. EVEN THOUGH adult stem cells are proven to be more useful and more effective treatments. And oh yeah, they’re morally LICIT. Because nobody is KILLED to get them.

And in Connecticut, there’s a measure on the table that would allow the state government to put Catholic pastors out of their jobs. (H/T to Paul Kravitz on facebook)

We wouldn’t let our kids get away with sneaking things by us. We shouldn’t let the government do it either.