"The sky is falling!"
So Chicken Little proclaimed to her companions, Lucy Goosey, Cocky Locky and the rest...
Fr. Mitch Pacwa makes the comparison with his thoughts on the today's situation.
This month the House and Senate have approved an economic stimulus package in response to the great difficulties in the job market and economy. The political pundits continue to argue about its probable success or failure, disagreeing strongly and certainly not knowing for sure how it will affect the economy in fact. The results remain to be seen, and we all hope that the results help not only our whole nation but the rest of the world that depends on us.
However, as a priest I have some comments to make on the stimulus bill because it contains elements which have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. First, so many of our nation's leaders have taken the Chicken Little approach, claiming that the economic sky is falling. They frighten the press, who help spread the fear by taking on the roles of Lucky Ducky, Goosey Lucy, and Cocky Locky. The reason for fear of complete economic catastrophe may well be real - I do not know enough about the actual state of the economy to make such a claim. However, the fear engendered by our national leaders cries of "Crisis! Crisis!" have energized such a speedy passage of the bill that one begins to fear that haste makes waste.
Of far greater concern is the enormous length of this bill - hundreds and hundreds of pages, with many elements crossed out and new ones printed by hand as compromises and arguments were made in the House and the Senate. However, the senators were not given enough time to read it, even though the Chicken Littles and Lucy Goosies were demanding haste to pass it. They could not know everything that was included, and some of these elements were made known to the legislators only after it had passed.
Among these components is a requirement to computerize the medical records of all our citizens. This would be online with the Federal government, who would then require all doctors to agree to Federal regulations on health care treatment. Any doctor who did not go along with this program would be penalized - though the penalties have not been spelled out.
I am amazed that politicians who demand privacy when it comes to the right to an abortion which had been created by the Supreme Court are now willing to terminate our rights to privacy in regard to our medical records. They will penalize a doctor who does not go along with applying medical procedures legislated by the Federal government, but not penalize a doctor who cuts an infant in the womb to pieces in order to abort it. They have twisted their authority from the protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness into a control of lives and the ability to prevent medication and, thereby, terminate some person's lives. This is triage legislation.
Of course, if the politicians promise total medical care, but they cannot supply it, they need to perform triage - choosing who will get medicine and who will die without it. They usurped this power without a public debate on the subject. Inserting it into an urgent and hastily passed economic stimulation bill became a trick worthy of Odysseus - the king who devised the Trojan Horse that destroyed Troy. I do not know what we can do to stop this, but we all need to stand guard against it. We must defend our true right to medical privacy. We must stand up not only for the lives of the unborn but now for our own lives and health. This task is extra difficult because Congress has already rolled the Trojan horse into our law.
Our source of strength this Lent will be our praying, fasting and abstaining to return our laws to a proper relationship with the God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government did not ever give us those rights; they cannot take them away. Therefore, let us turn to God their Author for the strength, wisdom and courage to prevent our government from taking them away.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa
Subsribe to his newsletter HERE
So Chicken Little proclaimed to her companions, Lucy Goosey, Cocky Locky and the rest...
Fr. Mitch Pacwa makes the comparison with his thoughts on the today's situation.
This month the House and Senate have approved an economic stimulus package in response to the great difficulties in the job market and economy. The political pundits continue to argue about its probable success or failure, disagreeing strongly and certainly not knowing for sure how it will affect the economy in fact. The results remain to be seen, and we all hope that the results help not only our whole nation but the rest of the world that depends on us.
However, as a priest I have some comments to make on the stimulus bill because it contains elements which have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. First, so many of our nation's leaders have taken the Chicken Little approach, claiming that the economic sky is falling. They frighten the press, who help spread the fear by taking on the roles of Lucky Ducky, Goosey Lucy, and Cocky Locky. The reason for fear of complete economic catastrophe may well be real - I do not know enough about the actual state of the economy to make such a claim. However, the fear engendered by our national leaders cries of "Crisis! Crisis!" have energized such a speedy passage of the bill that one begins to fear that haste makes waste.
Of far greater concern is the enormous length of this bill - hundreds and hundreds of pages, with many elements crossed out and new ones printed by hand as compromises and arguments were made in the House and the Senate. However, the senators were not given enough time to read it, even though the Chicken Littles and Lucy Goosies were demanding haste to pass it. They could not know everything that was included, and some of these elements were made known to the legislators only after it had passed.
Among these components is a requirement to computerize the medical records of all our citizens. This would be online with the Federal government, who would then require all doctors to agree to Federal regulations on health care treatment. Any doctor who did not go along with this program would be penalized - though the penalties have not been spelled out.
I am amazed that politicians who demand privacy when it comes to the right to an abortion which had been created by the Supreme Court are now willing to terminate our rights to privacy in regard to our medical records. They will penalize a doctor who does not go along with applying medical procedures legislated by the Federal government, but not penalize a doctor who cuts an infant in the womb to pieces in order to abort it. They have twisted their authority from the protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness into a control of lives and the ability to prevent medication and, thereby, terminate some person's lives. This is triage legislation.
Of course, if the politicians promise total medical care, but they cannot supply it, they need to perform triage - choosing who will get medicine and who will die without it. They usurped this power without a public debate on the subject. Inserting it into an urgent and hastily passed economic stimulation bill became a trick worthy of Odysseus - the king who devised the Trojan Horse that destroyed Troy. I do not know what we can do to stop this, but we all need to stand guard against it. We must defend our true right to medical privacy. We must stand up not only for the lives of the unborn but now for our own lives and health. This task is extra difficult because Congress has already rolled the Trojan horse into our law.
Our source of strength this Lent will be our praying, fasting and abstaining to return our laws to a proper relationship with the God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The government did not ever give us those rights; they cannot take them away. Therefore, let us turn to God their Author for the strength, wisdom and courage to prevent our government from taking them away.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa
Subsribe to his newsletter HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment