Editorial: 'Fiscal cliff' presents moral questions | National Catholic Reporter

Editorial: 'Fiscal cliff' presents moral questions | National Catholic Reporter There are several ethical questions presented by the cliff, although none that impinge on credal issues unless having one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church implies that it be the safety net. 

A basic issue is whether health care providers are being paid too high a premium for their services or patents - and how this should be reversed. Are free market prices in force or is some form of price regulation required, either through negotiating with a single-payer system or some type of public service commission regulation at the state level. In other words, this is a question of economics. 

Cutting benefits and hoping that the price market will somehow control prices makes it easier for richer people to get care while those who are poorer are forced to accept substandard care or simply die - and that is immoral. If consensus is impossible on market regulation on either the supply or demand side, then the only alternative is to raise more revenue - with the question then becoming whose ox gets gored. 

If we simply go off the fiscal cliff, there will be no need for health care cuts because income taxes in every bracket will provide enough money for increasing health care costs. If they make a deal that extracts savings from health care providers (which is doubtful), then there are three options - increased regressive payroll taxes (the left won't swallow it), increased income taxes on the wealthy higher than even stated policy (the House won't enact it) or some kind of consumption tax that replaces both payroll and income taxes for all but the wealthiest, with or without funding Social Security employer contributions with a consumption tax, which can lead to a higher basic benefit decoupled from the employee contribution and higher premiums for Part B and Part D.

A large part of the moral problem is the protection in our system of property interests. This is not an accident or anything recent. Economic factions are predicted to be a check on popular passions by the unorganized, as can be seen in Federalist 10. The American Constitution is meant to protect entrenched interests - so none of this is any surprise. This is why Christianity must remain a radical movement - which is hard to do when the bishops cozy up to the wealthy and the connected