As a practicing Roman Catholic, I am troubled by the public comments by politicians--some of whom profess to believe in the same faith as I do. The teachings of the Church do not represent a smorgasbord that can be sampled to fit your feelings; it is, rather, an integrated core that can help us in our journey.
Part of this is the sanctity of life. As I understand that concept, aided by a number of theologians,this is not limited to the unborn but includes those who commit heinous crimes. The Church also recognizes exceptional circumstances. At the end of world war two, as the Russian army was entering Germany, Catholic bishops granted absolution to those women who had abortions after multiple rapes. This does not condone abortion but does recognize that sometimes exceptional circumstances require exceptional measures.. An abortion simply as a measure for gender-selection would not qualify, Further, to require--bylaw--that I must not express my belief but must grant unlimited abortion rights is wrong.
It is also incumbent on me as a practicing Catholic to recognize Christ in everyone I encounter. Models here include Dorothy Day and Mother Theresa. This requires me to not marginalize those less fortunate. I have an active requirement to perform direct and indirect acts to assist others. Direct acts can be volunteering or donations to programs that act directly. Indirect acts include holding elected officials responsible to developing and carrying out programs that can reach larger audiences that I could by myself. The safety net is essential and we need to properly fund it and to ensure that it functions as well as it possible can.
My problem this election season is that I do not see a candidate who addresses all of the needs and concerns that I see. Further, in an age of polarization, I do not see either party interested in working in a bipartisan fashion to most effectively help those who need our help. Those most in need include both stone cold murderers as well as the unborn. Working single mothers, those with mental illness, those struggling with addiction; we are called to see Christ is each and to act towards them as we would to the actual presence of Jesus. Anything else is a failure on our part. Both parties in this election have ideas but they are incomplete. Neither party seems willing to recognize value in suggestions from the other party. And, there is no attempt to fix known problems, rather, it's always the other party's fault.
I can and must continue to help everyone I meet as best as I am able. I will vote, after long prayer and thought.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Depression
The depressing season is upon us. Both conventions have finished. The results? Partisans of either side are happy for their side and convinced that the other team suffered. My opinion is that neither convention did anything to reach out to those of us who worry about the future and do not see an obvious solution in either party. My--slightly biased, totally non-scientific--read is that there is no attempt by either party to look at our problems and to propose serious plans. In no particular order, here are some of my concerns.
We now have a health care plan, for better or for worse. As a health care professional with a long-time interest in public health, I have always felt that a single payer plan, with options for supplemental plans--is the most attractive option overall. When I read the Affordable Care Act, I do not see that plan. The AFA does not cover all Americans, it does not address all of the problems in the existing government programs and it sets up yet another government bureaucracy. Further, it takes money form the existing programs without a clear plan of where Medicare and Medicaid are going to make up the loss. Yet again, Washington policy makers are promising us to make up the funds with vague promises of savings with greater efficiency. I do not understand why anyone ever believes in these savings, they never materialize.
Taxation is a mess. We have a horrific mess that is given to us by the people that we keep re-electing. The tax code is inefficient, regressive and biased. We gripe about people not paying their fair share but we are not willing to place the blame where it belongs--on us for electing and re-electing that same people who vote for all of the tax breaks and gimmicks in our tax code. Don't blame the people who take advantage of the tax code; blame the people who voted for our tax code.
The deficit is out of control and neither side is willing to address the problem. A true solution would require fixing both the tax code and the entitlement programs. Do the rich--however you define them this week--pay a 'fair share'? I don't know and neither does anyone else. To define a fair share requires that we decide exactly what the government should do and what this would cost. This has never been done even on an case-by-case basis; what is needed is such a study on an overall basis. I do know that an upper rate similar to France's (75%) would still not fix our deficit.
Other major problems--such as, immigration--are not being addressed by either side. We just hear polemics and unsupported statements that say that 'we' are good and 'they' are evil incarnate. Far too many otherwise intelligent people post and re-post bumper sticker flame bombs that do not contribute anything to a proper dialog. Where are the people who are willing to discuss issues and compromise to find the best solutions? I do not hear or see them anywhere. So, depression season is upon us and will only get worse, I am afraid.
We now have a health care plan, for better or for worse. As a health care professional with a long-time interest in public health, I have always felt that a single payer plan, with options for supplemental plans--is the most attractive option overall. When I read the Affordable Care Act, I do not see that plan. The AFA does not cover all Americans, it does not address all of the problems in the existing government programs and it sets up yet another government bureaucracy. Further, it takes money form the existing programs without a clear plan of where Medicare and Medicaid are going to make up the loss. Yet again, Washington policy makers are promising us to make up the funds with vague promises of savings with greater efficiency. I do not understand why anyone ever believes in these savings, they never materialize.
Taxation is a mess. We have a horrific mess that is given to us by the people that we keep re-electing. The tax code is inefficient, regressive and biased. We gripe about people not paying their fair share but we are not willing to place the blame where it belongs--on us for electing and re-electing that same people who vote for all of the tax breaks and gimmicks in our tax code. Don't blame the people who take advantage of the tax code; blame the people who voted for our tax code.
The deficit is out of control and neither side is willing to address the problem. A true solution would require fixing both the tax code and the entitlement programs. Do the rich--however you define them this week--pay a 'fair share'? I don't know and neither does anyone else. To define a fair share requires that we decide exactly what the government should do and what this would cost. This has never been done even on an case-by-case basis; what is needed is such a study on an overall basis. I do know that an upper rate similar to France's (75%) would still not fix our deficit.
Other major problems--such as, immigration--are not being addressed by either side. We just hear polemics and unsupported statements that say that 'we' are good and 'they' are evil incarnate. Far too many otherwise intelligent people post and re-post bumper sticker flame bombs that do not contribute anything to a proper dialog. Where are the people who are willing to discuss issues and compromise to find the best solutions? I do not hear or see them anywhere. So, depression season is upon us and will only get worse, I am afraid.
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