More Romney Winky-Winky | National Catholic Reporter

More Romney Winky-Winky | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: When Mike Huckabee said he favored a pro-life amendment - indeed, whenever the amendment is discussed - it is a wink to moderates that nothing will be done because such an amendment has no chance. Repealing Roe v. Wade is another such wink. It simply won't happen because doing so on jurisdictional grounds would overturn most equal protection law. Personhood bills are similarly vacuous winks unless they deal with the equal protection issues having to do with miscarriage. Of course, the most realistic compromise is a federal personhood bill which protects everyone after the first trimester with exemptions for life and health of the mother, where health of the mother only applies if the fetus has no chance of living to a natural birth due to chromosomal abnormality. Such a bill could be passed next week - but it would not prevent many abortions. The Democrats would be all over it, because it would take the issue out of existence and because it would kill GOP fundraising from small donors.

Bp Taylor on the Election | National Catholic Reporter

Bp Taylor on the Election | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: No mandate can be illicit. Immoral, yes, illiict no. He gets a D for going along with his fellows on the myth that the Republican Party actually will do something about abortion and for perpetuating the myth that the contraceptive mandate is anything at all recent. The only new part is that copayments will no longer be required. While self-insurend plans might need an exemption, from what I understand, they are getting one.

Religion & Politics & Race | National Catholic Reporter

Religion & Politics & Race | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: All Churches have dirty laundry. Lest we forget, in the segregated South, Catholic churches had a separate Communion rail for black parishoners - and heaven help the black boy who wanted to date a white girl, even if both were Catholic. MLK had it right when he said that Sunday is the most segregated day of the week. All of this has nothing to do with who votes for Romney and Obama and why. If Romney had done what a lot of northern state Republicans did and switched to the Democratic Party in response to Nixon's Southern Strategy and its explicit racism, he might well have been elected as the Democratic President in 2004 with a large percentage of the black vote and health care reform firmly in place.

Obstructionism: Will It Have Worked? | National Catholic Reporter

Obstructionism: Will It Have Worked? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: We have met the enemy and it is us. We elect these people and don't object to redistricting schemes that allow members to set their own districts and pick their own voters. None of this is new, however now we have computers to do it even better, which offers no defense against a candidate who not only offers change, but specific changes that people want. So far, that candidate has not yet emerged (and when such candidates do, they are often ignored as fringe characters because mainstream candidates never give specifics).

Bp McElroy on Voting | National Catholic Reporter

Bp McElroy on Voting | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB:  What would have been truly refreshing, however, would be for a bishop to break ranks and call the Republican discussion on abortion the outright fraud that it is and will continue to be until the movement comes up with a bill to extend personhood to the unborn while also dealing honestly with questions having to do with first trimester miscarriages. Much of the legislation on this papers over such issues and does not meet this test. Until that happens, the bishops are cooperating with fraud, which is a sin the last time I checked.

THIS IS HUGE: VICKI KENNEDY OPPOSES PAS | National Catholic Reporter

THIS IS HUGE: VICKI KENNEDY OPPOSES PAS | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: St. Thomas More would disagree with you and with her on this. While I do not favor assisted suicide, the movement to preserve life to a natural death sometimes goes to far in cases when someone was brought back through extraordinary means and not woken up. The very canonically correct alternative to withdraw care must be respected if someone's brain has turned to jelly.

Cath Dems Seek To Persuade Undecideds | National Catholic Reporter

Cath Dems Seek To Persuade Undecideds | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The authors make an essential point found in most Catholic Special Ethics classes, which address topics rather than the structure of ethics. The point made is that the impact of the employer's payment is so small (and in this instance, non-existent) that it has no grounds for avoiding making it. This argument comes from the argument on paying taxes to fund either defense or to support a society that allows abortion. It is absolutely sound. Additionally, I would hope that before the election, MSW would admit that Catholic organizations have been paying for contraception since December of 2000, when the EEOC said it must, if not before. This entire controversy was a picked fight between Valerie Jarrett and the Pro-Life Secretariat of the USCCB that need not have occurred. Both sides benefitted from it and only time will tell whether it changed any minds. I suspect not. Rather, Romney is saying that the economy is biggest women's issue. The fact that the economy is coming back of late is just poetic justice. 

Weigel's Tendentiousness | National Catholic Reporter

Weigel's Tendentiousness | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I still think that Weigel is best ignored and the pro-life movement best exposed as an electoral and fund-raising scam. They will continue to be until they show me a serious bill that takes into account the flaws of simply declaring the unborn as people with regard to miscarriages. If you deal with this point honestly, Catholics cannot really morally support any Republican.


The decency argument he makes is likely more about gay marriage. In other places, I have shown that the idea of marriage in scripture, that of its indisoluability, applies equally to gay marriages as the straight variety and what the Church really fears is not the State but its own people and clergy.

Religious freedom applies constitutionally to employees, not employers, especially when dispensing a good, like health care, that is guaranteed by public funds and is therefore imbued with individual rights over group privileges.

I am all for a just and living wage - which is why I am voting for the President. I would hope that the Catholic Church would start paying one to all its employees - where a just wage means that whenever an employee has another kid they get a wage bump, regardless of their job. That should be tax supported.

As for entitlements, the current structure of retirement entitlements was written by what is now the USCCB with Msgr. Ryan adapting Catholic Social Teaching to federal law.

As far as alternatives, I offered some in my presidential candidacy. Romney has not really offered any reasonable alternative funding mechanisms. Its a bit to late for Weigel to be endorsing me, since Americans elect has folded.

As far as Nazis in the public square - if the shoe fits FoxNews, they should wear it. They certainly are expert at identifying the enemy other in the immigration and birther debates, going so far as having Romney include remarks about the 47% in his stump speech to donors.

Again, ignoring Weigel's drivel may be the best way to silence him (although it does not seem to have stopped me from posting online).

Mitt Romney's Intrinsic Evil | National Catholic Reporter

Mitt Romney's Intrinsic Evil | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Pathological rather than evil.  He is the Richard Nixon of his day.

Como se dice "tsunami" en Espanol? | National Catholic Reporter

Como se dice "tsunami" en Espanol? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Like you said previously, it is all about getting out the vote.  If it does not happen this year, it will happen in 2016, Grover Norquist's predictions of a long term GOP trend to the contrary.  This matters as much in Texas and Arizona, where there are Senate races.  The question is, can Obama get Latino voters to go for the Democrat rather than a Tea Partier named Cruz?  As far as the aptly named Flake from Arizona, he is a goner if the Latinos come out.

First Asian Pope? | National Catholic Reporter

First Asian Pope? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Before the end of this papacy, Benedict will make peace with the Archbishop of New Rome and take Rome's rightful place as NOT the first among equals.  The next pope will be a rump Anti-pope who will be killed when the city of Rome falls to a natural disaster and is mistakenly killed by a soldier (so says St. John Bosco, St. Malachy and Our Lady of Fatima in the Third Secret).  I would not wish that job on a wise preacher.

Election 2012: The Home Stretch | National Catholic Reporter

Election 2012: The Home Stretch | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: What happens in the House is equally important.  If we don't get rid of the obstructionists, they should at least be thrown out of the majority (no matter how they pander to the pro-life movement).  On the jobs front, people go with what is happening to themselves or people they know.  I got a job last month and will vote accordingly, as will those who know me.

Endorsements? | National Catholic Reporter

Endorsements? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Please consider the fact that the Republicans and the pro-life movement as a whole have not advanced a comprehensive vision, much less a bill, of what ending abortion will really look like. Until they do, they are committing fraud and if you don't acknowledge that, you are helping them.

Henneberger on Politics, and Non-Politics, of Rape | National Catholic Reporter

Henneberger on Politics, and Non-Politics, of Rape | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Men do have an opinion on abortion as a whole, but they have no right to an opinion on abortion as the consequence of rape. Anyone who does not know he should keep science deserves the blowback. If the Church wants a voice in this, it should let the Sisters speak for them, or more preferable ordain some Mothers Superior to the Episcopacy.

GQ&A with MSW | National Catholic Reporter

GQ&A with MSW | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: People don't have abortions because pregnancy is cheap (there are actually very good public benefits for expectant monthers and teen partents). What is expensive is raising a child and the Church has done an abhorrent job in making that phase of life cheaper, which is why Catholic girls (and women) are as likely to be found in Planned Parenthood as anyone else.

Professor George's Challenge | National Catholic Reporter

Professor George's Challenge | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Left libertarians believe that women are also created in the image of God, which is why a male dominated society cannot force its opinion on abortion upon them. Our proposed solution is to use higher child tax credits to provide incentives to carry the pregnancy, rather than to simply affirm a right to abort. This approach is not far from the economics of Benedict XVI, so they can surely be baptized, even though our stance on the freedom of conscience for women before the law cannot be. As for Weigel and George and their defense of Ryan explicitly and Rand implicitly, this is nothing new, nor is the compliance of some bishops in their coalition of the worthy and respectable. Jesus does not stand with such folks, rather he jumps in their face and tells them to repent of their inequity.

Polarization on Cable | National Catholic Reporter

Polarization on Cable | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The GOP is trying to lamely defend Romney's lack of gravitas on foreign policy by attacking Obama. Meanwhile, the Democrats are pushing ahead with the War on Women meme. They are both targeting independent middle of the road women, with the GOP throwing in "Security Moms." Essentially, they are seeing who has the pulse of swing voters better - Karl Rove or Valerie Jarrett. I am betting on Valerie.

Report: Küng to retire | National Catholic Reporter

Report: Küng to retire | National Catholic Reporter Now he has nothing left to lose.  I expect him to be more active, not less, in pestering his former cohort member into real change.  Hans will force his friend Joseph to pick between loyalty to him and their dead friend Karol.

More on Why Young People Become "Nones" | National Catholic Reporter

More on Why Young People Become "Nones" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: It really is as much the fault of their parents, who have kept them as pets for far too long.  Problem is, in a more efficient society, there really are less opportunities for this generation as their parents are just hitting their professional stride and don't want to retire, even when able (and often times they are not either, at least for as long as they will live).  This analysis ignores the fact that the Occupy movement is made up of this generational cohort.  Be afraid, be very afraid, as if they radicalize - or rather as they do - they may start demanding a shorter work week (both in terms of days AND hours per day).  They are finding solidarity on social networks, so it is only a matter of time before we see an American Spring.

Swing states put American Catholics in a decisive position | National Catholic Reporter

Swing states put American Catholics in a decisive position | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: More specifically, it is Catholic women who are the target of this campaign. Valerie Jarrett made a bet on this. Time will tell if she is correct.

"I'm Spiritual But Not Religious" | National Catholic Reporter

"I'm Spiritual But Not Religious" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: What spiritual but not religious means is that they don't believe that God is the ogre some in the Church make Her out to be.  Creating a different Higher Power than what they have learned is often required for them to approach God and they are not deluding themselves in doing so.  While following all the ruberics and confessing every sin is a comfort it is also a cheapening of faith.  Where God demands perfection is not in following the rules but in loving others unselfishly - and I assure you that this is a lot harder and can never be mastered without help from H.P.  It takes Spiritual Exercise to master (not the allusions to Loyola). 

Spiritual but not Religious is Code for in recovery but not going back to Church (in some cases due to the perceived unreasonability over the teachings on what are really trivial matters such as masturbation and birth control).

"God's Economy" - A Review | National Catholic Reporter

"God's Economy" - A Review | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Olaskty was right, Churches are much more effective at social services and should replace government whereever possible(especially if you include schools) - however they must play nice if they want to do that - especially the Catholic Church. I am less concerned with their bloviations on birth control and much more concerned with the bishops continual refusal to adopt modern non-profit governance methods for Church property and modern (or ancient) methods to select bishops. There is no King or Commissar in the US seeking to block the Church from selecting its own leadership, so there is no need to continue the temporary expedient of papal selection - which is neither ancient nor appropriate.


On the economic side, Bush did want to empower individuals to own stock - he just had no method in mind to have them control it. His Social Security personal account scheme would have shifted stock ownership in a few decades from the open market to Social Security participants, but without the tools necessary to give those participants control over what they owned. Had he proposed employee ownership rather than what was essentially giving management a free hand forever, he would have been very much in line with Pope Leo's vision of a just world.

Bp Flores on Religious Liberty | National Catholic Reporter

Bp Flores on Religious Liberty | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Wise and true words indeed, which can be applied equally to what is popular among members of the Curia and what is innately right and wrong by natural law untainted by claims of authority.

Knights of Columbus key contributor against same-sex marriage | National Catholic Reporter

Knights of Columbus key contributor against same-sex marriage | National Catholic Reporter Hardly shocking, although one wonders what the Knights working a Catholic Gay Wedding Mass might look like (no ordination jokes please).

Mitt Romney's Latest Brazen Lie | National Catholic Reporter

Mitt Romney's Latest Brazen Lie | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This is Mitt Romney corporate, not Mitt his-own-self.  I doubt he saw the letter.  This was another badly done staff job.  One wonders again if they are throwing this deliberately or just plain stupid.

American Values Survey | National Catholic Reporter

American Values Survey | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: A few things - young adults not going to Church is not a new concept and many return to some religious practice once they have kids, although some do not. Second, spiritual but not religious is often code for ex-Catholics who go to Alcoholics Anonymous.


That the majority of Catholic voters think abortion is not the prime issue is not surprising and is not an act of rebellion. It is because Abortion is not an issue at all. It is settled law and the pro-life movement is seen by many as a con game to turn out Republican voters and separate old people from their money. Many have also had miscarriages and given the lack of comfort provided them by the Church find it easier to deny the humanity of the child than grieve in silence. The question of miscarriages under law is why first trimester embryos will never be called people under the law. This is the reason the pro-life movement has no bill or vision for what their goal actually is. Paint a picture of an America where first trimester embryos are legal people and tell me whether you really want to live in it. The rest of us simply don't and we have a right not to.

Contraception is the issue they more likely disagree with the Church on. They deny that celibates are entitled to any opinion on their unitive sexuality's completeness with or without birth control and they have a point. They have also taken high school biology and know the difference between generative and regulative development (and that ensoulment is not possible during generative). If they've taken a Thomistic ethics class, especially if they are older, they know that life cannot begin until regulative development. When the Church has the scientific facts wrong, that is the Sensus Fidelium speaking.

Miami archbishop: Lawsuit needed to see HHS mandate overturned | National Catholic Reporter

Miami archbishop: Lawsuit needed to see HHS mandate overturned | National Catholic Reporter Until the final proposed rule is published (next year), the regulation is not ripe for lawsuit. This is a political stunt and the Archibishop is either badly advised by his lawyers or is playing partisan politics.

Just Say No To Make-Up | National Catholic Reporter

Just Say No To Make-Up | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Men need to have no opinion on this issue.  I'll let the Sisters and Nuns speak, but bloggers,priests and bishops need to remain silent.

Lilies That Fester | National Catholic Reporter

Lilies That Fester | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This is not the only "God related" mistake convention organizers made - recall the platform change that was inserted without enough comment to know that the President was behind it, which had people booing the process, not God.  However, the Democrats have nothing on the GOP, who went out of their way to alienate and embarrass the Ron Paul supporters on the first day of the convention.  As for the other issues, the writer is simply wrong on whether Obama and the Democrats are working with the Church.  While they may differ on how the Catholic Church goes along with making abortion an issue (it isn't until the pro-life side offers a real bill) and on marriage equality (and for a while, Obama was bending over backwards to not offend both black and Catholic pastors by endorsing what should be obvious), on issues of delivering health care and social services, by and large the Obama White House has worked closely with the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA.  Indeed both had members and the CCUSA staff get contraceptive coverage since December 2000 - if not before - since it was fairly standard to include in many policies and has been for decades.  If anything, the Obama White House should be upset at the Catholic Church for allowing the promulgation of lies on what was in health care reform regarding abortion in order to derail largely pro-life Democrats from being re-elected, when the Susan B. Anthony fund lied about what was in the bill in order to give us a GOP majority.

The Last Debate | National Catholic Reporter

The Last Debate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I found the back of my eyelids better viewing than the debate, however if it went as MSW says, I can't help but think that it reinforces the point that Romney is a plastic man with no core - having swung to the center on foreign policy.  People need to examine the question again of "which Mitt Romney?" showed up.

Kudos To Chaput | National Catholic Reporter

Kudos To Chaput | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Forming one's consicence is one thing, deciding whether an issue is worthy of being treated as an issue is another.  Until the pro-life movement actually has a real strategy to end abortion, rather than simply use the issue to get people to vote Republican with a nod and a wink from the Church, there is no concience obligation to back up their play.  Second, if the Church sends some pro-life zealot who wants my family to take extraordinary measures to prolong my suffering, I'd rather have my local ward healer pay his respects.

Election 2012: Taxes | National Catholic Reporter

Election 2012: Taxes | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I'm not sure if your premise is not false, which may be why he is not sharing details.  His plan may be exactly like Simpson-Bowles or Rivlin-Domenici, with capital gains and dividend taxes rising to 28%, with business and high income taxes being cut to the same rate (so that tax rates no longer impact economic decisions).  In my opinion, both candidates are passing by the opportunity to embrace some form of consumption tax so that most people no longer have to file, while also stressing a need to increase and consolidate the child tax credit (and pay it through employers) so that, again, the poor no longer need to file to get their tax benefits.  I would think working class voters would flock to such a candidate (even if the Tea Party leadership would not).

Judie Brown Feels Snubbed | National Catholic Reporter

Judie Brown Feels Snubbed | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Good for Cardinal Dolan!  Ms. Brown's entire importance is self-derived.  It is only grown to the extent that people notice her.  There are better people to notice, especially in a gathering whose purpose is to inject good humor into the process.

Clark on Economics 101 | National Catholic Reporter

Clark on Economics 101 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The reason is that Christian Democratic regimes (and Social Democrats) provide an income subsidy for families with children - however that has not seemed to increase the birth rate, which remains problematic for the existence of the social safety net both here and abroad.  In the US, that kind of paternalism used to be done by employers, though it is not so now.  That, and there is likely no wage penalty for NOT having kids.  There likely must be for them to have any affect.

Of Blinders and Binders | National Catholic Reporter

Of Blinders and Binders | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Whether Bain had women in any important positions is a valid question.  Any further talk of the Al Smith Dinner, which is a time out, is not.

Cardinal Dolan's Home Run at Al Smith Dinner | National Catholic Reporter

Cardinal Dolan's Home Run at Al Smith Dinner | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Cardinal Dolan hardly had the best year ever, as he willingly walked into the trap set for him by Valerie Jarrett - a trap which could have and should have been ignored (except that it benefited his organizational interests as well).  As for intermediary institutions, using them is the heart of the libertarian philosophy - although they do not accept the mandator funding element that would make that possible - nor does the Church accept a change in governance that would be required (a move toward non-profit boards from Episopal ownership) for this to include Catholicism.  The blind spot in the life of the Church is its attraction to bling.

Miller v. George | National Catholic Reporter

Miller v. George | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: If a beleif in human freedom were entirely out of bounds, it could not exist.  The same is true with liberalism.  Indeed, both are more concerned with seeking what is true - even though they have an imperfect approach to finding it.  The same can be said of our Bishops, who instead resort to authority - often at the expense of Truth (as in the Way, the Truth and the Life).  The reason MSW is bothered by someone carrying the water of Randians is that he carries water for the Magisterium, even when it does not deserve it. 

Moderate Mitt and the pro-life cause | National Catholic Reporter

Moderate Mitt and the pro-life cause | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: If the Catholic tradition is not invovled in prophetic speaking with regards to the state than something is wrong. It desparately needs to be, and more on economics than abortion. As for the Susan B. Anthony fund, it has no integrity. It, and much of the pro-life movement, are the religious wing of the Republican Party. Most pro-life Democrats already know this and keep most of the movement at arms lenght. MSW should take off the rose colored glasses and join them.


The movement in most respects is a scam, and will be until it produces federal legislation that moves personhood to gastrulation, the start of the fetal heartbeat, the begining of the second trimester or assisted viability which also deals intelligently with the needed equal protection issues regarding how miscarriages are treated insofar as investigations and torte relief. Since such a law would be almost impossible, don't hold your breath - and until such a bill is on the table the entire movement is the equivalent of voting for puppies. Where we can have an impact is in making abortion economically unthinkable by guaranteeing the economic and career rights of young parents and enacting suffiencient income support for all families (and dropping the focus on facilitating adoption).

Amy Sullivan on "Mitt the Man" | National Catholic Reporter

Amy Sullivan on "Mitt the Man" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB:  Any women on the board or leadership team at Bain?  I suspect not.  Romney is the boy in the bubble.  The last line of the article is priceless.

Jewish Groups Call Off Meeting | National Catholic Reporter

Jewish Groups Call Off Meeting | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: There is no danger of an Iranian bomb against Israel.  There are too many Arabs who would be killed by the fallout, which would also poison Iran's ecology.  What is happening to Palestinians (many of whom have been on the land since it was called Cannan) violates Torah and we must raise that issue in response to the promptings of the Spirit.

Bp Madden on Ecumenism & Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter

Bp Madden on Ecumenism & Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I see the Spirit working for unity, not division, even before Vatican II.  You might want to edit this.  In the end, if we want the Protestants to return to the fold, we need to return to the Orthodox fold without seeking supremacy (which is ahistorical until the era around the first millenium).

Romney: "Illegals" | National Catholic Reporter

Romney: "Illegals" | National Catholic Reporter MSW nails it.  Of course, the real problem is that any immigration regulation creates a demand for low wage workers who can be exploited in the shadows.  Repeal right to work and all immigration law and people really will leave - or will stay because by and large we need more workers.

Henneberger on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter

Henneberger on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Its mostly because the poor don't vote.  To talk about poverty in an acceptable way, one must speak of adult literacy and education (which is often relegated to First Ladies to talk about).  The TANF waiver dust up shows how much consensus there is that work is the solution to poverty rather than eductaion - a consensus around a fact that is blatantly false.

Round 2 Goes to Obama | National Catholic Reporter

Round 2 Goes to Obama | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I had better things to do that night, but clearly Obama bringing in the 47% comments was key (I did see that part). Let's wait until we get the swing state results before we declare victory, however, as tempting as it is given the topic of the next debate (foreign policy), where Romney is really badly staffed with cold war era dinosaurs.

If Obama Wins... | National Catholic Reporter

If Obama Wins... | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: There is a significant chance that the GOP will go the way of the Whigs, destabilizing the Democrats and forcing them to split into two factions which become the new dominant parties.  The only question is whether they will split on the grounds of capitalism or instead on moral issues, like abortion and marriage equality (or maybe both).  I suspect that the leading candidates in 2016 will determine the fault lines, although the GOP could make a go of it by nominating Condie Rice.

Robert Royal on Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter

Robert Royal on Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I suspect that most of the modernization attributed to Vatican II actually belongs to the cultural revolution against authority that was going on at the same time, as documented in the book 1959.  Whether Blessed John XXIII was catching the reform wave intentionally or not is immaterial, it was a time that everything changed, even if it was not meant to.  How the Church as people of God responded to these times is as important to the life of the Church as any of the documents of the Council (most of which go unread by most Catholics - who barely even go to Mass).

Robert George's Sanctimony | National Catholic Reporter

Robert George's Sanctimony | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The important point is that abortion is not an electoral issue unless someone puts a bill on the table making it so while also dealing with the difficulties of regulating abortion as the taking of a human life, rather than as a banned medical procedure.  The impossibility of doing this without putting in too many exceptions to make such a bill meaningless is the extent to which this is not an issue at all.  As for gay marriage, the courts will settle this on equal protection grounds in a way that conservatives won't like but reasonable people will.  As for contraception, it has already been required in preventative insurance since December 2000, historionics by Valerie Jerret and A/B Dolan to the contrary.  George's entire electoral approach is rabble rousing - although his particular rabble is dying off.

What Must Obama Say | National Catholic Reporter

What Must Obama Say | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Contraceptive coverage has been required in preventative care if covered by insurance for more than a decade. To say otherwise is to lie - and that is what Obama should say, along with some comments about the partisanship of the attack on Planned Parenthood, which is not funded with tax money to perform abortions.


As for what I would like him to say on defending Obamacare, I would attack Romney's contention that it is being funded by an attack on the middle class - when in fact it is being funded by a payroll tax on non-wage income for families paying over $250,000. I would have Obama ask Romney if he thinks people making this much money are in the middle class!

Sad State of Liberal Protestantism | National Catholic Reporter

Sad State of Liberal Protestantism | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Or perhaps Jesus before Caiphus and the temple priests.  Those who speak out in dissent may be doing so out of the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  The extent to which the Hierarchy fails to recognize that is the extent to which it has become like the gentiles, who lord their positions of power over the people.  Shame on you, Michael.

Bp Farrell on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter

Bp Farrell on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: No, I was wondering how the Homilists would thread the needle of not really addressing the issue in what are two of the richest parishes in the nation (St. Mary's and Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria), where quite a few weatlhier Republican Catholics worship.

Personal & Political; Hypocrisy or Not? | National Catholic Reporter

Personal & Political; Hypocrisy or Not? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: In reality, Catholic politicians have been loathe to provide much needed guidance on the politics of abortion to the bishops for fear of alienating Catholic voters.  I suspect they don't even do this privately, so the result is that the bishops rely on staff advice which misleads them (and MSW) on the constitutional nature of legal abortion in the United States - and how this is different from how abortion is legal in most other nations.  This should include explanation of both the jurisdictional questions and the privacy issues (that only Congress has the power to alter who is a person and how privacy simply keeps the state out of such issues as birth control, adultery, sodomy and abortion - absent some congressional action on personhood).  While some Catholic clerics and bishops detest the existence of the right of privacy, as a believer in a limited state, I cherish it.  Local majorities often bow down to pressure from the local religious and moral leaders, which is why privacy should be guaranteed federally lest the tyranny of the mob regain control over our sexulaity.

Election 2012: Subsidiarity | National Catholic Reporter

Election 2012: Subsidiarity | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Subsidiarity must be paired with solidarity - and not only in government or business, but also in the life of the Church. Where a congregation can do something, the bishop should stay out of it. That includes hiring Deacon-Adminstrators so that priests can focus on something other than property issues. Doing so, and creating non-profit structures to administer most social functions, will allow the Church to do more and the state to do less. Some still get the willies at the thought of the bishops owning governmental services under the Church's Medieval organizational structures (which conveniently duck the issue in attempts to sue the Holy See over the actions of its bishops in covering up sexual abuse).
As for the HHS mandate, it is only enforcing decisions by the Institute of Medicine - which is the proper forum to decide on what is preventative care. While picking a fight with the Church was a sorry bit of political distraction, the bishops were also spoiling for a fight and went into this fray willingly (still ignoring the fact that most Catholic organizations have been paying for birth control as part of preventative coverage since 2000 - something MSW has still not acknowledged in any blog entry).

"Forget Not the Poor" A Catholic-Jewish Sympsoium | National Catholic Reporter

"Forget Not the Poor" A Catholic-Jewish Sympsoium | National Catholic Reporter If you are free this Sunday...

A Star is Born | National Catholic Reporter

A Star is Born | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: He may be a star, but he is not sharing good news about the young.  In reality, liberty in this area can only come if the Church is given a dedicated levy to care for the poor and the poor are guaranteed a living wage - both through public action - something Randians reject with a passion.  Until they give on this issue, the state will always exist and do a sub-par job at providing for the least of us.

Bishops step into election fray with focus on abortion, same-sex marriage | National Catholic Reporter

Bishops step into election fray with focus on abortion, same-sex marriage | National Catholic Reporter  Ultimately, neither issue is legilsative, so the bishops are diluting their influence by casthing their lots with the GOP on these issues.  Until there is a federal personhood bill that deals responsibly with the equal protection issues of granting personhood to embryos that will miscarry, the issue is only about electoral politics and is not, per se, a political issue.

The Other Kind of Flip-Flop | National Catholic Reporter

The Other Kind of Flip-Flop | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: If our common witness unites us, our divisions can be melted away by humility.  Not taking bold stands against the culture is a good way to rise beyond separatism, which is inward looking only.

Abp Rowan: "A Deeply Revolutionary Matter." | National Catholic Reporter

Abp Rowan: "A Deeply Revolutionary Matter." | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Contemplation will get us to the willingness, but ultimately we must unite behind justice for the least and our joint witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (rather than agreement with Evangelicals on gynopolitics or gynomorality).

The Veep Debate | National Catholic Reporter

The Veep Debate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Don't know which is worse, Biden's laugh or Ryan's smirk?  I think Biden wins for the best use of the word "Malarky" although I am no expert as I went to sleep after 30 minutes.  Expect a lot of kids named Joe or Paul in 9 months as people turned off their TVs and did something else.

RC Showdown | National Catholic Reporter

RC Showdown | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I'm not sure anyone ever thought it was naked of religion.  Some of us wish it were more naked, as it was only recently in historic terms that adultery, sodomy and even contraception were against the law.

Ohio's Evangelicals | National Catholic Reporter

Ohio's Evangelicals | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The numbers are already old, because they likely don't include the post-debate bounce.  Until the debates are over, all numbers are late.  Stuff is happening in this race.

The 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council | National Catholic Reporter

The 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Sometimes, Christ also speaks through those who dissent. Indeed, it is likely that this happens most times. This is often what the Roman Curia and its apologists refuse to see.

Dems For Life in Key Races | National Catholic Reporter

Dems For Life in Key Races | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Expect the Susan B. Anthony Fund to send out something lying about these fine people, likely having to do with health care reform.  Write a bigger check.

Partisan, Tax Exempt Pulpits | National Catholic Reporter

Partisan, Tax Exempt Pulpits | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: None of us are stupid.  We know how our priests lean and are sure that the Catholic clergy will be forgoing this College Republican Club-worthy stunt.

Fresh Air & Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter

Fresh Air & Vatican II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The letter of Vatican II ignored any talk of major change, however its Spirit of renewal certainly did.  As for putrid smells, they are as often eminating from the windows as entering from the outside. As for the Archibishop of Canterbury, the Curia are like foxes in a hen house when he comes around.  They are still clinging to the hope that their medieval authorites might survive well into the twenty-first century.  It is a vain hope.

On All of Our Shoulders | National Catholic Reporter

On All of Our Shoulders | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The teachings of the Catholic bishops are correct on abortion - however their understanding of how abortion law actually works in the United States seems deeply flawed, as does MSWs. As for the libertarian imperative, there is such a thing as left libertarian socialism, which is not enamored with Rand but instead looks for alternative, non-governmental solutions - among them the Church - to replace services by the state. Of course, as I am now receiving health care services from the state, I must say that I find them quite compassionate and very professional - coming through when I needed them most. However, they are fiscally stressed in a way that a Church would not let itself be.

Same-sex marriage and Communion | National Catholic Reporter

Same-sex marriage and Communion | National Catholic Reporter Bishops like this one are running scared, mostly of their own priests who may acede to family demands that civil gay marraiges be blessed - or to existing or potential priests who may prefer a gay wedding to a life of celibacy for themselves.  Pray such as these, for they are about to face great change in the Church, including a renewal of the Spirit of Prophesy (which is all about self-correction).  He damns himself by rejecting Her promptings.  Maybe his excellency should avoid Communion instead.

MSW in Colorado | National Catholic Reporter

MSW in Colorado | National Catholic Reporter  MGB: A few thoughts. First, before the bishops speak for us politically, perhaps it would be good if they asked the people in the pews first - something the most blatantly ignored to do. Indeed, the one time they took our pulse on contraception, they did not like the result and ignored it - and not for any reason of natural law but to preserve their position on infallibility.


Both positive and negative liberty are best served by a liberated morality. We are not moral because God is trifling over sin, but because the moral life is a greater good in this world. Any teaching which departs from that departs both from natural law and the revealed truth that Jesus is gentle and humble of heart - his yoke is easy and his burden, light. The bishops in such a schema can be useful guides, but their rule is not absolute. It can not be at war with reason or claim a particular talent for it that appears to be absent in their drive for internal consistency. Indeed, the extent to which it is peppered with sexism makes it suspect in teaching on sex.

Annoint some female bishops and that witness may change some of our minds. Until then, their product is questionable.

As to life issues and the election, the economic tool of sensitivity analysis is useful here. If there is no realistic bill that deals with ending abortion in a way that serious people agree is constitutional, then there is no issue at all and someone is using private passions to pull one over on pro-life voters. Mature Catholics have stopped listening to such noise. If economic policies are better for preventing abortion than any change in the criminal law, then the economic apporach is what must be pursued by Catholic voters.

As to economic libertarianism, like social libertarianism it comes in two varieties. Indeed, left libertarian or libertarian socialism predates the modern Austrian variety. In this ideology, which shares much with Distributism and Rerum Novarum, such outside entities as the Church can be used to replace the government in providing services. There is a caveat, however - for the Catholic Church to do this more than they already are, they need to assuage the fears of secularists, protestants and even liberal Catholics and remove all vestiges of feudalism from the management of Catholic social entities - which in the early Church were run by Decaon(nesse)s and not the hierarchy. We need to return to that model - as modified with modern non-profie governance structures. There were very real reasons to distruct the early modern Church - often because it resorted to violence to get its way. Now its bullying is more gentle, but it is still bullying and this must stop.

Campaign Cash | National Catholic Reporter

Campaign Cash | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  Why Obama is winning the money wars.

Election 2012: The Economy | National Catholic Reporter

Election 2012: The Economy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Economic policy had everything to do with the boom and bust cycles of the 1990s and 2000s.  Clinton went along with lowering the capital gains tax rate to 20%, which fueled the Internet bubble and the resulting burst, as well as the high revenues that everyone thought would be out beyond the eye could see.  Worker pay stagnation happened because Reagan made the capital gains tax rate too low to start with and Clinton did not increase it by that much.  There is also a substantial relationship between the deficit net of net interest payments and the amount of economic growth the next year.  It is not one to one, but it is not minimal either.  Whether the relationship is a positive correlation or a negative one depends on tax policy (right now, more borrowing means more growth, so that if we under borrow with low tax rates we will have stagnation).  This election is vital.  We need a president who will either keep tax rates the same and borrow heavily or one who will raise taxes, particularly on the rich.  That person must be Barack Obama.

Marie Griffith on Red Mass | National Catholic Reporter

Marie Griffith on Red Mass | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The only time Red Mass would be unseemly is if the celebrant tried to play hardball on life issues and deny Communion to anyone for not toeing the Church line on abortion.  That would be asking them to put their faith above their constiutional oath and that could never be allowed - and because bishops are appointed by the emissary of a foreign government, it would also be seditious.  There is definitely a line between providing teaching and coercing decisions and the Church dare not cross it.

3 Fallacies About CST | National Catholic Reporter

3 Fallacies About CST | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Part of prudential judgment is whether a provision can be passed - something the bishops have not yet considered. If you can pass economic means to decrease abortion but legal means to outlaw abortion are impossible, than abortion is not really an issue, is it?

Unemployment Better Than Expected | National Catholic Reporter

Unemployment Better Than Expected | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: A lot of the jobs lost last summer were Graduate Students who exited to go back to school - probably taking some time off before September.  Vacation is good when you have that kind of workload in September.  In some parts of the country, lots of jobs are going begging, because they are not good jobs.  Eventually, when health care mandates kick in, there will be no such thing as a bad job with no benefits - now if we could get mandatory sick leave, we'd be all set.

Catholics & Evangelicals Together | National Catholic Reporter

Catholics & Evangelicals Together | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The problem is that the Church in many Latin American countries serves the intertests of the educated lighter skinned minority, leaving the darker skinned indigenous natives descendants to the Protestants. 

To Tell the Truth | National Catholic Reporter

To Tell the Truth | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Romney's problem is that he has a personal staff, hired national campaign staff that is more competent but not as trusted and the staff Ryan brought with him.  No one seems to be in charge, so the message gets muddled.  His other problem is that Mitt the technocrat would make about the same decisions as Barack the technocrat, so there is no justification for a Romney presidency other than his race and age - which is probably good enough for his base, but he just can't say it out loud.  Additionally, if he told the truth, he would get about as many electoral votes as Mondale as the core GOP supporters might just stay home.

The first presidential debate in review | National Catholic Reporter

The first presidential debate in review | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The pundits seem to think Romney won, but we'll see what the polls think - especially after the fact checkers show that Romney is still lying and the Obama campaign drills the point home.  Lies often sound attractive, but they are still lies.  Last I checked, Obama had 269 likely electoral votes (270 after Omaha).  That seems to be the magic number.  I believe the phrase is winning the battle and losing the war.

James Carroll's Silly Solipsism | National Catholic Reporter

James Carroll's Silly Solipsism | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Carroll has a point.  If the Vatican Curia and the Bishops somehow think that they are immune from the mental (not just sexual) revolution which began in 1959, which is when how we thought about authority differently, they are simply pining for the good old days that never were.  Encouraging the dinosaurs is not helping them come to grips with the inevitable future where gay marriages will be celebrated with Latin Masses (no ordination jokes please), priests marry, are female and do not control the property of the Church, which will join the trend to non-profit boards rather than personal ownership by the Bishop.  Such ownership is not Catholicism, it is Medievalist.

An empty communion line? | National Catholic Reporter

An empty communion line? | National Catholic Reporter The source of the discord is the hierarchy, not the Church.  They are not the same thing.  The natural law case against homosexuality in consensual relationships is weak and the bishops know it, which is why they are resorting to authority.

Judge Rules Against Individual Exemption to HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter

Judge Rules Against Individual Exemption to HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: First, the suits are not ripe because the final rule has not been published.  Bringing them this year was an act of bad faith and a political stunt that was shameful for the Church and these plaintiffs to undertake.  That should be enough.  Second, there is no issue because the policy has been in place for all employers using outside insurance since December 2000 if the insurance covers preventative care.  The only change is that now co-pays are zero.  No one will mention this issue at anytime after November 7th.  Valerie Jared picked a fight with the Church and its lawyers and staff were too stupid to take a pass.

Abp Gomez on Voting | National Catholic Reporter

Abp Gomez on Voting | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: He is a bishop and not a lawyer or politician.  Platitudes on rights are one thing, but without legislative proposals they don't stop abortions.  What will are budget policies that encourage child rearing, including allowing teen couples to have a shot gun wedding and scholarships to Catholic college or the much absent Catholic Vocational system (absent because it does not exist and should).  Given how the bishops have mucked up child protection, most parents will abort rather than give their child to the Church to adopt out.  Even child protection has become a life issue.

Truth: One huge thing missing in this presidential campaign | National Catholic Reporter

Truth: One huge thing missing in this presidential campaign | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Actually, James Q. Wilson found in 1990 (Political Science Quarterly, Summer Issue) that the President has a great deal of influence in shaping the macro numbers on budget policy, but Congress controls the details.  I imagine this is still the case.  I have run regressions showing that Deficit offset by Net Interest as a percentage of GDP is a rather good predictor of growth in the next year (after multipliers have taken affect), explaining between 25% and 100% of the variation.  By now, it is Obama's economy, although the biggest thing he did was not let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010, which would have actually been good because it would have taken away the high end incentives to cut jobs.  Right now, when you save labor costs, investors keep 85% of the savings and give the government 15%.  Make that 75% with the government getting 25% and you are less likely to extract savings.  Make it 50% each and you are even more unlikely to cut costs.

Yesterday's Red Mass

Yesterday's Red Mass by MSW.  MGB: I published a commentary on yesterday's gospel at http://www.examiner.com/article/today-s-mass-readings-and-the-bishops   Of course, I talk about bishops, not judges.

Maybe Why Romney Held Off on Tax Returns?

Maybe Why Romney Held Off on Tax Returns? by MSW.  MGB: It is not accident that the convention happened first.  I am sure there was a very real fear that a pro-life rebellion would have led to a free for all which would have handed the nomination to Sarah Palin or Ron Paul.  I suspect the leadership was in on the timing.  The did not even trust their own delegates.  That was probably wise.

Election 2012: Religious Liberty

Election 2012: Religious Liberty by MSW. MGB: One should never mention the HHS mandate without pointing out that the Church quietly accepted the fact that preventative policies have included birth control since December 2000.  This is a manufactured crisis and the reason no one has mentioned it is that it has outlived its usefulness on both sides.  Of course, there would be no crisis at all if the laity controlled most of the property of the church through modern non-profit corporate structures.  In such a world, directors would not look to pick a fight the way bishops, who legally now own these agencies as personal property, would do.  That would likely be a good thing.  The question is not just about freedom on conscience - but WHOSE freedom of conscience.  No one is forcing employees to use contraception, so I have to side with them.  Since I believe that there is no life issue, because I can't see individuality occurring before gastrulation, the issue is entirely about sexual morality - a place where the Church as employer deserves NO OPINION.