Cardinal Timothy Dolan throws his support behind efforts to link the 20-week abortion ban and paid family leave. Here is a classic case of the extremes controlling the debate and frustrating the kind of linkage that the cardinal rightly calls for. The GOP does not want to allow an amendment linking the two because they oppose paid family leave. The Dems do not want to make the 20-week abortion ban more likely to pass, so they oppose the linkage. But, as the cardinal points out, from a Catholic perspective, the two issues are already linked in the lives of real people, if not in the eyes of partisan and single-issue groups. If the leaders of our Church make a real effort to reach out to pro-life progressives and center-right conservatives, they can help bring back the day when our Congress works again.
How evil are hedge fund owners? They are willing to explode the price of a drug that can save millions of lives so that they can reap millions of dollars. Once again, we recognize that while the market is great at allocating goods and services, not all goods are like other goods, and while it is fine to compete in the market selling televisions, our societies, usually working through our governments, need to step in when the good in question is a life-saving drug.
At USCatholic, Stephen Schneck takes on the Pope Francis haters. And, at Commonweal, Tony Annett utterly destroys George Wll.
At YahooNews, Michael Peppard has breaking news about the closing liturgy in Philadelphia. He has learned that the plight of the poor and exploitation of workers will be addressed in the clearest terms. How does he know this? Check out the lectionary readings. The Epistle of James will do the heavy lifting, but I am thinking we can expect Pope Francis to second St. James. Peppard's essay is light-hearted, but it does raise a question: What do our free market worshipping friends think when they listen to the Word of God week in and week out?
