Bishop Blaire, Bishop Pates Urge Congress To Protect The Poor, Future Generations As Sequestration Looms

[Michael_Mayo]

As Catholic bishops, we renew traditional principles and values to guide budgetary deliberations:

1. Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
2. A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31-46). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.
3. Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in a manner worthy of their dignity in difficult economic times.

usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/federal-budget/upload/sequester-letter-house-2012-11-13.pdf

 

[Swiss_Guy]

The fact that international poverty assistance is 1% of the budget is so saddening. I guess it shows how self centered our country is.

 

[iloveangels]

The bishops have a job (that they’re not doing very well) already. They need to stay out of what they don’t understand. This kind of nonsense is what got us into the Obamacare mess. Haven’t they LEARNED ANYTHING???

 

[Swiss_Guy]

The bishops have a job (that they’re not doing very well) already. They need to stay out of what they don’t understand. This kind of nonsense is what got us into the Obamacare mess. Haven’t they LEARNED ANYTHING???

Wow, tell that to the Holy Father and your local bishop…

 

[iloveangels]

Wow, tell that to the Holy Father and your local bishop…

I’m pretty sure they’re already starting to get the message. This election should have helped. One can only hope.

 

[Swiss_Guy]

I’m pretty sure they’re already starting to get the message. This election should have helped. One can only hope.

I don’t think it’s fair to blame the bishops for lapsed Catholics voting for the wrong candidate this year. If you have to blame bishops blame the bishops of the previous generation, even though I still think it is more appropriate to blame the 60’s and liberal priests.

 

[JimG]

It should be noted that this is a statement issued by two bishops, Bishop Stephen Blaire, and Bishop Richard Pates.

Their statment, while addressing laudatory goals, does not go far enough in its recommendations to Congress. They need to detail just how Congress is to accomplish the goals they wish while at the same time avoiding national bankruptcy. Simply urging the legislature not to cut particular programs does not help to ensure more income, nor do they advise just which progams should be cut.

The projected sequestration is, in any case, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the debt which continues to increase.

And a bankrupt nation surely cannot help the poor and protect future generations.

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

There seems to be some who are concerned over other issues now. Before the election they were saying we’d have to set those issues aside for the important issues.

 

[spartan_cop]

I don’t think it’s fair to blame the bishops for lapsed Catholics voting for the wrong candidate this year. If you have to blame bishops blame the bishops of the previous generation, even though I still think it is more appropriate to blame the 60’s and liberal priests.

Maybe not fully but partially yes. Especially their predecessors. Even Dolan admitted that the bishops haven’t done all they could to protect their flock. The stuck their noses in the political field and got burnt! Instead of preserving the teachings of the faith and ensuring that they were transmitted to the faithfully full and correctly.

 

[JimG]

There seems to be some who are concerned over other issues now. Before the election they were saying we’d have to set those issues aside for the important issues.

Life issues and religious freedom are the paramount issues, but I wasn’t setting anything aside. National bankrupcy is an important issue too. It seems we’ll get the worst of all the above.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

They need to stay out of what they don’t understand. This kind of nonsense is what got us into the Obamacare mess. Haven’t they LEARNED ANYTHING???

and

Their statment, while addressing laudatory goals, does not go far enough in its recommendations to Congress. They need to detail just how Congress is to accomplish the goals they wish while at the same time avoiding national bankruptcy.

Two very different views of what the bishops should do. I think the most important statement is :

In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI warns against the “downsizing of social security systems” in rich and poor countries and emphasizes “solidarity with poor countries.” We do not offer a detailed critique of various concrete proposals, but we ask Congress to weigh the human and moral consequences of various policy choices in light of the needs of people, especially those who are poor.

Certainly that IS their job and and they are doing it in consistency with the Catholic Church’s long tradition.

 

[JimG]

and

Two very different views of what the bishops should do. I think the most important statement is :

In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI warns against the “downsizing of social security systems” in rich and poor countries and emphasizes “solidarity with poor countries.” We do not offer a detailed critique of various concrete proposals, but we ask Congress to weigh the human and moral consequences of various policy choices in light of the needs of people, especially those who are poor.

Certainly that IS their job and and they are doing it in consistency with the Catholic Church’s long tradition.

True, the human and moral consequences of policies should be weighed. Spending over $4 billion every day that the nation does not have in the way of income seems to me to be a serious moral failing, and the consequences on the nation, especially the poor, should be weighed as that policy is considered.

But, I have heard only one bishop address that issue–it was Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas who commented on that issue when these same committees made similar recommendations a few months ago. Would any spiritual leader advise a family to court bankruptcy? I doubt it. So I would hope that they would also recommend against nations going bankrupt, thereby hurting all their citizens.

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to spend so much on defense.

defense.aol.com/2012/03/16/the-military-imbalance-how-the-u-s-outspends-the-world/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

More than China, Russia and a whole bunch others combined,

 

[Swiss_Guy]

I think the most important statement is :

In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI warns against the “downsizing of social security systems” in rich and poor countries and emphasizes “solidarity with poor countries.” We do not offer a detailed critique of various concrete proposals, but we ask Congress to weigh the human and moral consequences of various policy choices in light of the needs of people, especially those who are poor.

Yep.

 

[Swiss_Guy]

Maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to spend so much on defense.

defense.aol.com/2012/03/16/the-military-imbalance-how-the-u-s-outspends-the-world/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

More than China, Russia and a whole bunch others combined,

Yeah, we spend too much on the military. Heck, we spend too much on everything, using money we don’t have. It makes sense for one of the largest countries in the world to have a large military, but I think this is absurd.

 

[JimG]

Maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to spend so much on defense.

defense.aol.com/2012/03/16/the-military-imbalance-how-the-u-s-outspends-the-world/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

More than China, Russia and a whole bunch others combined,

Senator Tom Coburn mentioned that very thing in a news conference the other day. DOD spends a lot of money that is not defense related. For example, some military bases–in the U.S., not overseas, operated their own schools, at a cost far greater than using public schools. That’s just one thing. A lot could be cut from the defense budget. But a lot could be cut from other programs too–Dept. of Education, Dept of Labor, Dept. of Interior, and yes, even Medicare and Social Security. The federal government is spending way too much.

 

[MHichborn]

If Bishops Blaire and Pates are looking to obtain money to protect the poor, perhaps they can start by not allowing the Catholic Church to fund the spiritual enemies of the poor and of the Church.

Please read the report at www.reformcchdnow.com to see what is happening in our Church!

 

[Swiss_Guy]

If Bishops Blaire and Pates are looking to obtain money to protect the poor, perhaps they can start by not allowing the Catholic Church to fund the spiritual enemies of the poor and of the Church.

Please read the report at www.reformcchdnow.com to see what is happening in our Church!

Someone has an agenda, seeing as you are a technical contact for that group. Now I know why you are so intent on bashing the CCHD…

 

[MHichborn]

Someone has an agenda, seeing as you are a technical contact for that group. Now I know why you are so intent on bashing the CCHD…

1. My only “agenda” is to try to get the Church to stop funding our enemies.
2. I’m more than a technical contact … I’m a primary researcher and principle author of the report itself. I stand by my research and my conclusions.
3. I did not “bash” the CCHD … I have been trying desperately to get the CCHD to address the problems. This report was not made public until MONTHS after we gave the information contained within to local CCHD directors. We even had a meeting set up to discuss the information in the report with the national CCHD director, but after we proved that the Gamaliel Foundation lied to him about its relationship with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (see this report for details: reformcchdnow.com/wp-content/uploads/Niagara-Organizing-Alliance-for-Hope.pdf), the national CCHD director cancelled our meeting without any explanation beyond, “We see no reason to meet at this time.”

 

[Michael_Mayo]

Our finance committee chairperson at church told us today the church is deficit spending.
Same goes for our state and of course the federal level.

Why is it that there is so much not living within means?

I do not make a lot and I wish I could be more generous. I live in a very small house and stay within my means. It is painful but seems to me the only responsible way to live.

Common sense?