Catholic Conferences Have Strange "Social Justice" Ideas

Our friends at "A Washington DC Catholic" posed some excellent questions on December 23rd that merit repetition and elaboration.  As mentioned before in my own postings, one can easily get the impression that the Obama Hell Bill will be just peachy-keen with both the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Maryland Catholic Conference if only the abortion funding provisions were eliminated.  Assuming that such elimination were to occur, let's examine other troubling aspects about the Hell Bill.

1. The Death Panel provision (Independent Medicare Advisory Board) is intact in the Senate version that just passed.    Oh, by the way.  Language in this bill attempts to make it illegal for future Congresses to repeal it.  Here's HR 3590; see it on page 1020.  Do the USCCB and MCC believe that this panel constitutes Catholic social justice?
2. The Hell Bill renders it mandatory for each citizen to purchase health insurance.  The Senate version levies fines of $750/person.  The House bill goes so far as to broach the possibility of imprisonment.  Do the USCCB and MCC believe that such draconian imposition of health care purchase on pain of criminal penalties constitutes proper Catholic social justice?
3. Taxes (17 of them!) abound in this monstrosity.  They include:
1. A new "marriage penalty tax" on couples earning more than $50,000
2. Increase in the Medicare tax rate from 1.45% to 1.95%.  Again, how does this comport with Catholic social teaching?
4. Go to page 569-585 of the monstrosity and notice that those deemed to be in high-risk areas may be subject to "home visitations".  USCCB and MCC, is this Catholic social teaching, or is this the Gestapo?

I urge all, particularly those ensconced within the bureaucracies of the USCCB and MCC (and other state conferences) to watch the video below from RealCatholicTV.



I don't completely share Voris's bleak opinion at this point, simply because the legislative fight is far from over.  However, we are close to the precipice, thanks in no small part to the socialistic proclivities of the various Catholic Conferences.