I have been thinking about Obamacare for over 2 years now, like many concerned people in this country. This past week was a monumental event in our country's history. I honestly believe that the decision of the Supreme Court will determine whether this country survives into the future. Today the nine justices met in closed chambers to vote on the events/arguments that took place earlier this week. They have a pretty good idea of what will be the final decision. One of them has been designated to write the majority opinion. Others are free to write their own opinions.
What is so hard about all of this for me as a conservative Catholic is that I deal with very liberal Catholics, primarily religious women, on a day to day basis. Some of them are just clueless, some are misinformed followers, and others are radical feminists who want nothing more than to advance the same agenda as such radical organizations as NOW, Planned Parenthood (like the one that is
2 blocks from my office), and
NARAL. I was so utterly offended by Nancy Pelosi and Sandra Fluke purporting to speak for all women and asking for Congress to make me pay for their (well, Sandra and her BFFs anyway) birth control, sterilization and abortions, that it sickens me. When religious women lend their names and clout to the fray, contrary to what the true leaders of the Church advocate, it is not only disheartening, but infuriating.
So, getting back to the unprecedented 6 hours of arguments on the constitutionality of the health care law that the Supreme Court set aside this week, I want to lay out clearly what the arguments involved, since the mainstream media and the liberal politicians are trying to make this about things that it is NOT about, namely a race, gender and class war.
On Monday the Court heard arguments on whether Obamacare provides that a tax to be implemented against those who do not choose to comply with the mandate to buy insurance. If the penalty for failing to buy health insurance is a tax, then the issue is not "ripe" and no Court can hear the case until the tax is implemented -- in 2014 or 2015. Both sides want the arguments to go forward, so they agreed it was NOT a tax. But the liberal attorney for the plaintiffs (Obamacare advocates) kept stumbling over his words and using the term "tax" over and over, and was called out by the Court repeatedly. In the end, unless the Court just does not want to make a decision, then this should be an issue that is easily overcome.
Tuesday was the heart of the matter -- the individual mandate. We all know the arguments on both sides. What I would add to the mix is that I am baffled as to why the leaders in some religious institutes are so ready and willing to completely divest themselves of any and all responsibility for the types of care upon which so many religious institutes were founded. One such advocate is the leader of a national lobbying network who supports the individual mandate and, undoubtedly, a single payer system. The president of a national Catholic hospital association also has damaged the unity of the Church by advocating for Obamacare and its mandate that requires employers to pay for birth control, sterilization, and abortafacients. These women need to hear from Catholics who are praying for this country to stop ignoring its Christian history and to uphold TRUE Gospel values rather than their skewed view of what makes them feel and look good to other liberals. Catholic hospitals and social service organizations are not what they used to be. Many are not Catholic, and they need to be held accountable.
What I never hear these and other liberal Catholic women discuss is the fact that once you turn over payment of healthcare to the government, then the government gets to tell you what is included in the services they afford you, that to which you are entitled, who will deliver the services, when they will be delivered, when you get them, and when you are not worth the investment. The government will become the "death panel" that Sarah Palin boiled it all down to.
So many women religious in this country fight against the male leadership in the Church. They complain that because the Church's leaders are men, they cannot do ANYTHING for women. They blame everything on the fact that the men have male gonads. Of course they do not use that language, but that is what it all boils down to. It is so ludicrous. No one can reason with these women when they are dead set against men having moral or theological authority or leadership in the Church.
Sure, mistakes have been made by a wide number of male leaders in a wide variety of circumstances throughout the history of the Church. But why these religious women are so willing to turn over their personal health care (and that of ALL women, even though most of us DO NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT) to Kathleen Sebilius and, come next January when a new administration takes over, an appointee of a new conservative President, is beyond me. Can they not see that whoever controls the purse strings controls what the money inside will be allowed to buy?
Wednesday's SCOTUS hearings were on severability (morning) and the effect of the expansion of Medicaid coverage on states (afternoon). You can find out about these arguments on a plethora of websites, so I will spare you. On Wednesday, I took off a couple of hours from work to go down to the Supreme Court and see what it was like to be in the crowd on these momentous days. I got there just as the morning session was adjourning for lunch. I got to see Rep. Steve King from Iowa, Rep. Louie Gohmert from Texas, and Rep. Michele Bachmann from Minnesota as they spoke to the crowd gathered in front of the SCOTUS building. It was electric.
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| Michele Bachmann 3.28.12 in front of Supreme Court building |
I have been to a number of Tea Party events, and it always is an amazing experience. The only thing that marred the occasion in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday is that when these three Congress men and woman were speaking, the liberals who were present were chanting and shouting loudly and non-stop to try and drown out the free speech of conservatives. It was not surprising. The liberals' idea of free speech is that they get to speak freely, we have to listen, and if they disagree with what we have to say, they will shout us down so the truth cannot be heard. It is as fascist as any tactic of Mussolini. They remind me of little children who pitch a hissy fit when they do not get what they want, or a grade school bully who tries to steal your lunch money. Finally, though, conservatives are going
Ralphie on the liberal bully Scott Farkus.
I gotta go now. My husband is sleeping across the room in his raise-em-up chair. We are going to go up and sleep peacefully through the night.
May I remind my Catholic friends and relatives that we are about to enter Holy Week. I plan to increase my prayers this coming week, praying that the Justices on the Supreme Court will be enlightened and will understand that this country cannot stand if the government can force us to buy anything that some majority of the 535 voting members of Congress (House and Senate) see fit to impose upon the other 320,000,000 of us. It is despicable, it is scary, and it is un-American.
God, please, save us from ourselves.
