Saturday, February 11, 2012

It's Not About The $600

George Savage, writing over at Ricochet, unmasks the whole HHS vs. the Catholic Church conflict.
Sibelius: But I think we can say very safely that this doesn't add to the cost of either the employer's plan -- and we know that women, if they have to purchase this coverage outside of a health plan, could spend up to $600, which is a substantial financial barrier to access a very important health benefit and a benefit used by 99 percent of women across this country at some point in their lives.
$600 works out to $12 a week. No one in their right mind, and Barack Obama and Kathleen Sibelius are certainly in their right minds, thinks that it is of crucial importance to cover an elective personal activity to the tune of a maximum of $12 a week.

This is fascist enforcement of moral conformity, nothing else.

Update: Egnorance hits the nail on the head.
We are at war. We are at war with people who hate Christianity. There are people in this country who want to see Catholicism in particular, and Christianity in general, crushed. They are assaulting us continuously, in courtrooms, in the press, in regulatory offices with judicial censorship, calumny, and regulations that transgress the Constitution and transgress simple respect for conscience.

10 comments:

TheCatholicScienceGeek said...

Geesh! This attack on our freedoms and conscience is growing more and more obvious as more stories come to light. Yet, you don't see quotes like this in the general media! OY VEY! Thank God for the Catholic blogosphere.

K T Cat said...

Thanks for the comment! I worked out a little more of the math and if both the man and woman share the cost of sex, it comes to less than a can of soda per person per day.

That's why they're jamming moral conformity down our throats - a can of soda a day? Right.

Doo Doo Econ said...

I am just a little blogger with a big mouth but I have been saying that they are at war with America for a years.

The bumper sticker for Obama has subtext:

Obama 2012
"Death to America"

tim eisele said...

I think it's important to remember that Catholics are a major presence in the federal government[1]. If the government really is trying to oppress the Catholic church, this would tend to make me think that we aren't looking at a "culture war" of Catholics/Allied Christians against Everyone Else. We are looking at a "civil culture war" *within* the Catholic Church.

After all, if all (or even around, say, 80%) of the members of the Catholic Church were completely on-board with the official Church positions, their numbers in the government would be more than sufficient to turn things their way.[2]

---
[1] Some interesting numbers:
Supreme court: 9 members, 6 are Catholics (including one of Obama's appointees). Other 3 are Jewish.

Congress: 156 Catholics out of 535 (just a hair short of 30%, compared to 22% Catholics in the general population)

Presidential Cabinet Members: 7 Catholics out of 16, including Joe Biden and the Secretary of Health and Human Services

[2] Number of congressmen who have stated that they are atheists or are not adherents of a specific religion: 0/535

Secular Apostate said...

Tim,

You're exactly right. Lapsed Catholics and CINOs (e.g. Kerry, Pelosi, Kennedys) are the second largest Christian denomination.

Unfortunately, you've missed the entire point of the debate.

K T Cat said...

Everyone in HHS works for Kathleen Sebelius. Everyone in the Executive Branch works for Barack Obama. They can have whatever religious affiliation they like so long as they do as they're told. I'm not sure what effect it has to be a Catholic working in the IT Department at HHS. As long as the people who give the orders are forcing you to break with your moral values, it's all the same.

K T Cat said...

The government will force coverage of a minimally expensive, elective behavior upon everyone despite the fact that it is in direct contravention of religious teachings. The coverage has never been mandated before. It is in response to no crisis.

If it's not an attack on religious freedom, what is it?

tim eisele said...

Secular:
No, I haven't missed the point of the debate. I am intentionally ignoring it :-)

Well, not ignoring, exactly. But I am aware that what I wrote was only tangentially related at best. I just thought it was interesting, and brought it up in the spirit of making sure that everyone knows who their opponents *really* are. I mean, railing against small numbers of atheists is kind of pointless when nominal members of one's own religion are busy stabbing one in the back.

Incidentally, did you know that Kathleen Sibelius is one of the 7 Catholics on Obama's cabinet? It says so on her Wikipedia page.

K T Cat said...

Hooray for Kathleen Sibelius! She's striking a blow for womyn everywhere!

:-)

Secular Apostate said...

Tim, my apologies. I missed your point... the Christian left (e.g., Fr Pfleger) are as culpable as any atheist.